Snan Yatra fever grips Digha: Mamata sends homegrown mangoes for bhog
The sacred Snan Yatra festival commenced with great fervour at Jagannath Dham in Digha on Tuesday, marking a spiritually vibrant prelude to the forthcoming Rathayatra celebrations.
The deities — Sri Sri Jagannath, Baladev, and Subhadra Devi — will be ceremoniously brought out from the temple's inner sanctum to the Snan Bedi, a special bathing platform constructed on the temple's eastern side. Bathed in the morning sun, the platform will become the stage for one of the most sacred rituals of the Vaishnavite calendar.
The deities will be bathed in water collected from 108 holy tirthas. This elaborate Snan Vidhi will then be followed by an anointing ceremony involving devotional chants, pancha-amrit (a mixture of milk, curd, honey, ghee, and sugar), sweet fruit juices, and other sacred substances.
'Once the divine bath, or Snan Vidhi, is complete, the deities will be offered a grand bhoga. And in a truly heartwarming gesture, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, has sent a special gift! Luscious mangoes and jackfruits, plucked straight from the trees in her Kolkata residence. It will be included in the afternoon's elaborate Chappan Bhog, a magnificent offering of 56 delectable items,' said Radharaman Das, Vice President of ISKCON.
Darshan timings on the day of the festival are scheduled from 3 pm to 9 pm, during which devotees will have the rare opportunity to witness the deities in Gaja Vesha (elephant attire), a form said to bless viewers with prosperity and protection.
However, starting Wednesday, the temple will observe a period of tender silence as the deities are believed to fall ill due to the elaborate bathing ritual — a state affectionately called Snana Yatra fever. As per tradition, Sri Sri Jagannath, Baladev, and Subhadra Devi will enter a period of divine rest, making themselves unavailable for public darshan, said Das.
'However, the temple will remain open, and Sri Sri Radha Madan Mohan ji will bless the devotees with darshan,' he said.
The deities are expected to reappear on June 26, a day before the grand Rathayatra on June 27.
Sweety Kumari reports from West Bengal for The Indian Express. She is a journalist with over a decade of experience in the media industry. Covers Crime, Defence, Health , Politics etc and writes on trending topics.
With a keen eye for investigative and human-interest stories. She has honed her craft across diverse beats including aviation, health, incidents etc. Sweety delivers impactful journalism that informs and engages audiences.
Sweety Kumari is a graduate of Calcutta University with an Honors degree in Journalism from Jaipuria College and a PG in Mass Communication from Jadavpur University. Originally from Bihar, she is brought up in Kolkata and completed her education from Kendriya Vidyalaya SaltLake. Multilingual, Sweety is fluent in English, Hindi, Bengali, and Maithili. She started her career as an Entertainment and lifestyle journalist with a newsportal in Kolkata. She is working with The Indian Express for 8 years now. ... Read More
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