Bhubaneswar, Jan. 1: The Puri Shree Jagannath Temple administration, in association with city-based the Sri Jagannath Sanskruti Parashad, is going to celebrate a six-day festival in the city from January 9.

The event, Sri Jagannath Mahotsav, aims to popularise the Jagannath cult in the year of Nabakalebar.

Puri Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati and Puri Gajapati king Dibyasingh Deb will inaugurate the event.An integral part of the festival, called Sri Jagannath pancharatra, will start on January 10 and continue up to January 14. The five days will be dedicated to five different aspects of the Trinity.

Parishad president Gopinath Mohanty said: 'The scriptures and rituals related to the Jagananth cult is not known to many across the country and the globe. We want to popularise the Utkal Khand, a part of ancient scripture Skand Puran, which describes the Trinity through 3,867 slokas (verses) spread over 60 chapters. It is the only scripture, which describes the Jagannath cult in all details.'

The Jagannath Mahotsav has been held since 2012. The coming one will be the second one and its prime objective will also be to hold the National Sri Jagannath Temples Integration Council with an aim to follow uniform rituals like that of the Puri temple.

'It is found that many temples are not following the original rituals, pujas, cooking procedures of prasad. So, we want to use this platform with the guidance of the religious gurus and the researchers to form a proper code to be followed by all,' said Mohanty.

The grand festival on Lord Jagannath at the Sivananda Centenary Boys' High School will include an exhibition of the 24 different attires of the Trinity. In fact, a rare attire called Raghunath vesha will also be displayed at the site. The exhibition will also have photographs on the previous Nabakalebar (change of idols).

Parishad secretary Debendra Kumar Das said the exhibition would also include the food offerings for the Trinity, including the rice meals, collectively called chhapan bhog (56 types of offerings), so that the people can have a glimpse of the original food items. It will also include a book exhibition on the Jagannath cult.