Puri, Jun 13 (PTI) Thousands of devotees from across the country have started arriving at this pilgrim town as the Odisha administration is all set to conduct the sibling deities - Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath's, ceremonial bathing ritual known as 'Snana Ustav' in full public view on Tuesday.

There is excitement among the devotees as the ritual will allow public participation after a gap of two years. The devotees were not allowed in the rituals in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

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As part of the preparations for the Snana Ustav or Deva Snan Purnima, when the main idols of the 12th century shrine, are poured sacred water in presence of people, Lord Jagannath and his divine siblings, underwent 'Senapata Lagi' (special preparation to leave the sanctum sanctorum), performed by servitors early on Monday morning.

During the ritual, which is performed a day before Snana Jatra, Daitapati servitors apply a paste made from Baula Katha (piece of wood of Baula tree) on the deities.

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For the preparation, the devotees were restricted entry into the shrine till 2 PM on Monday leading to long queues in front of the Temple's Lion's Gate here. Many devotees from the state and outside like West Bengal, Jharkhand, Maharastra and other places had to wait for more than five hours to have darshan of the trinity inside the temple.

Monday was the last day to have the darshan of the deity inside the temple as the shrine will remain closed for a fortnight from Tuesday night and open a day before annual Ratha Jatra on July 1, said an official of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA).

According to the timing fixed by the SJTA for Snana Jatra, the ceremonial procession of deities will start at 4 am of Tuesday. The bathing ritual on the altar facing the Grand Road will start at 9.30 am and will continue till 11.30 am. The Gajapati Maharaja of Puri, Divyasingha Dev will perform the ‘Chhera Pahanra' (sweeping of the pandal) between 12.15 pm to 12.45 pm and the deities will be adorned with 'Hati Bhesa' (attire of elephant) between 12.45 pm to 2.30 pm.

Meanwhile, keeping in view the possible huge congregation of devotees on Snana Jatra, elaborate security arrangements have been made to ensure hassle-free darshan and smooth conduct of the grand festival, said Puri SP KV Singh.

District Collector Samarth Verma and the SP Monday reviewed all arrangements made for devotees' safety, crowd control and traffic management.

As part of security arrangements, barricades have been erected on Bada Danda (Grand Road) from Market Square. About 50 platoons of police force along with senior police personnel will be deployed to ensure law and order during the festival.

Besides, restrictions have been imposed on movement of vehicles in the town for Tuesday.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)