Servitors bring the golden crown for Lord Jagannath to wear during suna besha in Puri on Friday. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

Puri, July 19: The rest of the year, they don’t have limbs, but today, Lord Jagannath and his elder brother Balabhadra had arms and feet made of gold.

Over 10 lakh devotees gathered on Grand Road as Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra, seated on their respective chariots, were adorned with gold ornaments during suna besha.

The annual ritual was performed this evening after the deities in their three chariots reached Jagannath temple in the morning.

All three chariots were stalled at various points on Grand Road on bahuda yatra yesterday. The chariots reached their destination around 10.15am after the pulling of the ropes resumed this morning at 7.15. Some of the rituals were performed before the chariots rolled. Breakfast, lunch, alati and camphor were offered to the deities later.

Around 6pm, the special costumes were brought out along with the garlands. After the deities wore these, the golden crown, arms and feet for the divine brothers, ornaments made of the yellow metal and jewels were brought out from the ratna bhandar, or treasury, of the temple. By 7pm, the idols had been dressed in their fine attire.

The gold was melted into over 140 items, such as the limbs, and ornaments such as golden conch, chakra (wheel) and other accessories.

The crowd that had gathered watched the proceedings as if mesmerised, and all the while chanted the Lord’s name, throwing their hands up in the air.

The barricades installed by the security personnel and district administration made crowd-management easier for the authorities in spite of lashing rain at intervals.

“It was my dream to see the Lords in their suna besha or golden avatar. Today, I am on top of the world to have fulfilled that wish. The beauty of Lord Jagannath is beyond any artist’s imagination. It is stunning to see the Lords in this form,” said P. Vanishree, a devotee from Andhra Pradesh.

A devotee raises his hands in Lord’s praise. (Pradip Sanyal)

Temple officials said the proceedings were trouble-free. “The event was conducted as scheduled and there were no hitches whatsoever. Servitors as well as devotees co-operated with the security to ensure that there was no rush or untoward eventuality,” said Laxmidhar Pujapanda, temple public relations officer.

The special director general in charge of the rath yatra festival, Sanjeev Marik, said the police had requested the devotees to view the Lords and allow the next lot of devotees to follow them. “We had also requested the servitors to be seated around the deities in such a way so as not to block the view of the devotees.”

The devotees made rounds beyond midnight after which the gold ornaments were taken off. The adhara pana ritual will be conducted tomorrow, and the Lords will be carried into the sanctum inside the temple on Sunday.