Bhubaneswar: Puri is ready to welcome devotees who are expected to throng the Jagannath temple on Thursday for the deva snana purnima of the deities. The ritual marks the beginning of rituals related to rath yatra, which will be held on July 14.

During the snan purnima, Lord Jagannath and his siblings - Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra - are carried to the snan bedi (the bathing platform) in a procession. They are bathed with 108 pitchers of water mixed with coconut water and extracts of various aromatic herbs. The ritual is observed to provide them relief from the summer heat. After the deities are bathed, they fall sick and remain in hibernation for 14 days.

During this period, servitors treat them with various kinds of healing herbs and preparations. Devotees are also denied darshan of the ailing deities.

To ensure a smooth deva snan purnima, 42 platoons of police will be deployed in the town. The devotees are excited to have a glimpse of the deities on Thursday. Inspector general of police (IG) Soumendra Priyadarshi said: "Police will remain on duty at the temple from 4am on Thursday. The pahendi bije (the procession in which the Lord comes out of the shrine) will begin around 5.30am. All steps have been taken to ensure that the devotees have a smooth darshan of the Trinity."

At the snana mandap, the deities will give darshan to lakhs of devotees.

The deities will be decked up in gaja besha (elephant attire). The devotees will enter the temple through Singhadawara and leave through the three other doors.

Temple chief administrator P.K. Mohapatra said: "Required instruction have been issued to all the servitor niyogs regarding their duties and responsibilities. We are quite hopeful that the snan purnima will pass off peacefully."