Bhubaneswar: Devotees, who are devoid of the trinity's darshan in Jagannath shrine, are flocking to Alarnath temple at Brahmagiri village near Puri.

According to legends, since the snan purnima, the deities of Jagannath temple have been treated inside the sanctum sanctorum of the Puri temple. The divine siblings get a high fever as a result of the lavish bathing during the festival. Hence, they undergo treatment in a secret hideout.

On the other hand, the Alarnath temple is witnessing thousands of visitors on a regular basis. The queue outside the shrine during this period stretches to a few kilometres.

"The devotees are deprived of getting a glimpse of Lord since the idols are replaced with patti dian or traditional painted images that are worshipped in the Puri temple during the fortnight-long hibernation of the deities," said researcher Ashish Patra.

But, it is believed that during this period Lord Krishna, who is worshipped as Lord Alarnath at Brahmagiri, gives the devotees the same spiritual joy as they get while worshipping Lord Jagannath.

"Devotees also believe that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had visited the Alarnath shrine during the anavasar (hibernation) period of Lord Jagannath. Thus, the tradition of paying a visit to Brahmagiri during the fortnight prior to rath yatra has become a norm for lakhs of devotees," said Sudarshan Jena, a devotee from Cuttack. "The khiri (rice porridge) prepared in the temple as an offering to the deity is immensely popular among the devotees," said servitor Jenamani Suar.