Puri: The Deba Snana Purnima ritual of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra will be observed at the Puri Srimandir tomorrow.
The Snana Yatra, which is the prelude to the annual Rath Yatra of the Trinity, will be held with participation of a minimum number of servitors and strict adherence to social distancing norms.
This is for the first time that the festival will be conducted without the presence of devotees in the holy city due to COVID-19 restrictions. However, they can watch it on their TV screens or social media.
The Odisha Government has arranged live telecast of the ritual through Doordarshan. The telecast will be available on other TV Channels and Social Media, according to the Information & Public Relations Department.
As per schedule, the Pahandi (procession) of the Trinity will be held between 1 am and 4 am while the Snana rituals will be performed between 7.30 am and 9.30 am. This will be followed by the Chhera Panhara ritual at 10.30 am, Hati Besha (elephant attire) between 11 am and 12 pm and Bahuda Pahandi between 5 pm and 8 pm.
Elaborate security arrangements are being made for the smooth conduct of the rituals under the close monitoring of Central Range DIG Ashish Singh.
A total of 38 platoons of police will be deployed in Puri to restrict on the entry of devotees and assembly of general public around the temple.