Bhubaneswar, June 27: Lord Jagannath and his siblings were today taken inside Puri's Mausima temple, where they will stay for the next seven days till bahuda yatra or return car festival on July 3.

Though the deities are usually carried inside the Mausima temple on the rath yatra day itself, this year, the chariots could not reach the Gundicha shrine on Sunday.

The procession got delayed this year as devotees queued up in front of the chariots throughout the day to have a darshan of the Lord and his siblings. This time, the administration banned the practices of touching the chariots and climbing them to have a darshan of the deities.

Later in the evening, adap mandap bije - the ritual of taking the deities inside the Gundicha temple from the chariots - was performed. All other rituals such as sakal dhup, abakash niti, mailam lagi were performed in the morning.

Going by an ancient belief that getting a glimpse of the deities on this altar washes off sins and brings prosperity to the spectator, lakhs of pilgrims rushed to the adap mandap today to offer prayers.

"Getting a darshan of Lord Jagannath and his siblings here is a matter of great fortune. Adap mandap is also known as the yagna bedi or the stage where the idols were constructed first. Hence, it is considered to be extremely sacred," said Ananta Prasad, a devotee.

The abhada prasad of the deities would be available from tomorrow.

Throughout the year, the dishes available at the Anand Bazaar of the Jagannath temple are in demand. But during this period, devotees wait to get a chance to savour the delicacies prepared here for the Trio.

"The dishes prepared here are similar to the ones offered at the 12th century shrine, which is the permanent abode of Lord Jagannath. The main item is the anna (rice), along with aromatic preparations of dal, various types of mixed vegetable dishes, khatta, khiri and so on," said Dhiren Mohanty, a researcher on Jagannath culture.

In another development, police today detained two residents of Chile for entering the Gundicha temple.

Servitors spotted them roaming inside the temple, following which they were handed over to the police, who took them to the nearby police station for verification of their passport and questioning. While non-Hindus are prohibited from entering the Gundicha temple, social activists have raised eyebrows over the issue.