Puri, Jul 13: With the completion of the Osha ritual and the administration of the traditional Dasamula herbal medicine, Lord Jagannath and his sibling deities are believed to have fully recovered from their ritual illness. Following confirmation of the deities' recovery to the Gajapati Maharaja, preparations for the upcoming Rath Yatra have gathered momentum.

Just a day before the grand chariot festival, the deities will appear before devotees in their rejuvenated Nabajouban (Divine Youth) form. As part of this sacred transformation, the Ghana Lagi and Banaka Lagi rituals will be performed inside the Anasara Gruha on Chaturdashi Tithi, strictly away from public view.

During the secret rituals, a sacred herbal paste known as Khali Prasad, prepared by the Shuddha Suaras (temple cooks), will be ceremonially brought to the Jagannath Temple in a traditional procession accompanied by gongs, bells, mridanga and kahali. The divine paste, made from camphor, saffron and musk, is then applied to the bodies of the deities by the Daita and Pati Mahapatra servitors using silver vessels.

Before the application of the herbal paste, the confidential Ghana Lagi ritual is performed. The newly rejuvenated wooden idols are first draped in red cloth in a distinctive manner by the Daita and Pati Mahapatra servitors. Following the Khali Lagi ritual, Khadi Prasad is applied to complete the restoration of the deities' appearance.

According to temple tradition, sacred cotton threads are carefully placed across the bodies of the deities in patterns resembling the latitude and longitude lines of the human body, symbolising veins, arteries and internal life force. This ritual signifies the complete healing and revival of the divine forms after the fortnight-long Anasara period.

Once the Bhoga Mandap rituals conclude, Khadi Prasad is ceremonially brought from the residence of the Dattamahapatra servitors to the temple and applied to the deities. With this final ritual, Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra are believed to regain their original divine appearance before granting the much-awaited Nabajouban Darshan to devotees.

Throughout the secret Anasara period, the Daita servitors, regarded as descendants of the tribal devotee Biswabasu, continue to serve the deities with utmost devotion and strict adherence to centuries-old traditions, preserving one of the most sacred and confidential rituals of the Jagannath Temple.