Defying the scorching heat and humidity, lakhs of devotees thronged this pilgrim city to participate in Deva Snana Purnima, the prologue to rath yatra on Tuesday.

The Deva Snan Purnima sets the ball rolling for the nine-day sojourn of the deities called Rath Yatra, which is scheduled to commence from July 1 this year. Odisha’a biggest festival, the three-day Raja, which celebrates womanhood, began on Tuesday.

In the last two years, Deva Snana Purnima could not be held because of the pandemic.

The deities step out of the 12th-century shrine to take bath in the snan mandap after pahendi vije (the procession in which deities come out from the shrine) ”

Senior servitor of Puri Shree Jagannath Temple, Ramakrishna Das Mohapatra said: “According to the rituals of Deva Snana Purnima, Lord Jagannath and His siblings - Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra - are carried to the snana bedi (bathing stage). Here they are given a holy bath with 108 pitchers of water mixed with coconut water, aromatic extracts from flowers to bring them respite from the summer heat.”

Puri king Dibya Singh Deb arrived in time to clean the snana mandap with a golden broom. After Deb reached the snana mandap in a royal procession, the servitors welcomed him to the mandap. After performing the rituals, Deb left waving to the lakhs of devotees waiting on the Grand Road to get a glimpse of Lord Jagananath.

According to the rituals, after the bath, the Lord gives darshan dressed like elephants. All the deities appear like Ganesha (in elephant attire). “There is a rich history behind the Ganesh Vesh of Lord Jagannath. A devotee from Karnataka, a devotee of Lord Ganesh wanted to see Lord Jagananth in the form of Lord Ganesh. The Lord blessed him and when he saw the Lord, the deities looked like Ganesh. Since that day, the Ganesh vesh is performed,” said Pandit Surya Naryan Rath Sharma, an expert on Jagannath culture.

From Wednesday, the Lords will remain out of bounds of the devotees for 15 days. After this period of hibernation, the deities will give dasharn to the devotees on Naba Jauban Day, the important festival preceding the Rath Yatra. This year it will fall on June 29.

“There is a rich history behind the Ganesh Vesh of Lord Jagannath. A devotee from Karnataka, a devotee of Lord Ganesh wanted to see Lord Jagananth in the form of Lord Ganesh. The Lord blessed him and when he saw the Lord, the deities looked like Ganesh. Since that day, the Ganesh vesh is performed,” said Pandit Surya Naryan Rath Sharma, an expert on Jagannath culture.