Puri, June 13: The much-awaited Deva Snana Purnim of Lord Jagannath and his siblings has begun in Odisha today. Snana Yatra is held on the full-moon day of the month of Jyestha.

It is a ritualistic bathing ceremony of the deities of the Jagannath Temple – Lord Jagannath, Devi Subhadra, and Lord Balabhadra.

As per Skanda Purana, when Raja Indradyumna installed the wooden deities, he arranged this bathing ceremony, and hence, the day is celebrated to bath the trinity.

Thousands of devotees inside and outside Odisha throng in Puri. The idols of Lord Jagannath, Devi Subhadra, and Lord Balabhadra are taken out from the Ratnasinhasan of the Jagannath Puri Temple, early in the morning. These idols are brought to the snana bedi or the bathing altar.

Prior to the bathing ceremony on Devasnana Purnima, a few puja and rituals are performed by the priests, where a total of 108 pitchers of herbal and aromatic water are used to bath the three main deities of the Jagannath Temple.

The deities later are then dressed up in Sada Besha after the bath, and at night, the three main deities – Lord Jagannath, Devi Subhadra and Lord Balabhadra – retire to the Anasar House.During this Anasara period, the devotees are forbidden to see the idols of the Lord.