Devotees outside the Alarnath temple at Brahmagiri in Puri on Saturday. Picture by Sarat Patra

Puri, June 14: Lord Jagannath and His siblings, after taking a lavish bath with 108 pitchers of water yesterday, have fallen sick and are now being treatment inside the sanctum sanctorum of their 12th century abode in the city.

The deities will remain in hibernation for 14 days before coming out for naba jauban darshan one day ahead of rath yatra.

With the Lord unable to give darshan because of illness, the devotees are flocking to the Alarnath temple at Brhamagiri village, around 25km from Puri town, where another form of Lord Jagannath has been enshrined.

Around midnight yesterday, the deities returned to their sanctum sanctorum.

Puri collector Dhiren Patnaik was there till midnight to ensure that everything went smoothly. Senior servitor Ramkrushna Das Mohapatra, along with other servitors, guided his colleagues in discharge of the rituals.

However, the controversy has sparked off again whether devotees should be allowed to climb the chariots during rath on June 29.

On behalf of the Puri Shankaracharya, his representatives today reiterated that devotees should not be allowed to climb the chariots and touch the deities as it is against the spirit of the scriptures. However, the government continued to maintain the stand that more consultations are needed on this sensitive issue. The daitapaitis (servitors) have opposed the move.

At the Alarnath temple, hundreds of devotees have started visiting to see the temple’s presiding deity, believed to be an avatar of Lord Jagannath. As the devotees would not be able to get the Lord’s darshan in the Puri temple for 14 days, they can instead have a glimpse of the patti dian or traditional painted images of the deities placed inside the Alarnath temple.

Alarnath temple servitor Nilamani Suar said: “Legend has it that the temple has been named after the Alwar royal dynasty of Rajasthan. It is believed that the shrine was established by one of the Alwar rulers and hence named as Alwarnath or Alarnath. During this period, Lord Krishna, who is worshiped as Lord Alarnath, gives the devotees the same spiritual joy as worshipping Lord Jagannath,” said Suar.

Carved out of black marble, the idol worshiped at the Alarnath temple has four arms holding conch, club, lotus and chakra. Lord Vishnu’s mount Garuda, usually placed on a tall pillar in front of the deity, is seen kneeling near the feet of Alarnath here. Also, Lord Krishna’s consorts, Rukmini and Satyabhama, are worshipped in the temple.

Devotees believe that saint Chaitanya had visited the shrine during the anavasara (hibernation) period of Lord Jagannath and sought blessings of the deity here. Thus, the tradition of paying a visit to Brahmagiri during the fortnight before rath has become a norm for lakhs of devotees. The khiri (rice porridge) prepared in the temple as an offering to the deity is immensely popular among the devotees.