Bhubaneswar, Aug. 2: Swings decorated lavishly with flowers have been installed at many mutts in the holy city of Puri to observe the jhulan yatra or swing festival of Lord Krishna and his muse Radha for the seven-day revelry.

Devotees are gathering in huge numbers in the city to get a glimpse of the deities seated on the swings, before the festival concludes on Friday.

Although, observed all over the country, this festival is given a unique touch in Puri. In the Jagannath temple, the representative deity of Lord Jagannath, Madanmohan is seated on a beautifully decorated swing everyday starting from dasami to purnima or the day after.

The representative idol of Goddess Laxmi is placed on the same wooden swing on the Mukti Mandap, a raised platform in the temple that is also known as the jhulan mandap as it is the venue for the celebration of the jhulan yatra.

Various monasteries in the city are celebrating the festival with spiritual fervour.

The Gopinath Jew mutt has come up with a miniature silver foil chariot, decorated with traditional wooden sculptures of dancing girls, parrots and many other local religious symbols. In the centre is a swing on which Lord Krishna and Radha are seated, surrounded with cattle in a backdrop that reminds one of the mythological Brindavan.

Similarly, in the Jagannath Ballav mutt, the swing has been installed within a lavish setting of a palace like structure made of golden zari and shola.

The structure adorns figurines of local deities in different postures and the flower-bedecked idols of Lord Krishna and Radha are placed on the swing.

At the Odia mutt, the swing has been seated under a decorated huge arch, again crafted of zari and shola, while at the Goura Bihar mutt the deities have been installed amid a set-up of a virtual garden. Mahari dancer Rupashree Mohapatra performed at the Goura Bihar mutt recently.

“The festival of jhulan is very dear to devotees of Lord Jagannath and it was my good fortune that I was invited to perform Mahari dance, the traditional ritual dance of the Jagannath temple at the matha,” said the dancer.

The Radhey Shyama mutt that is known for preparing the spread of sumptuous dishes on the occasion of byanjan dwadasi, came up with another delectable platter of special delicacies for jhulan yatra.

“We have prepared 110 dishes for the deities all of which use only the ingredients and vegetables that are permitted to be cooked inside the Jagannath temple,” said a priest at the monastery.