PURI: The Trinity glittered in Their golden attire (Sunavesha) as over 10 lakh devotees braving rain thronged the Temple Town to witness the most-decorative attire on Tuesday. It rained from morning till noon and the weather became clear in the afternoon. However, there was a tragic note to the ceremony. One Sambhunarayan Saxena of Madhya Pradesh collapsed on the baisipahacha (22 steps) and was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared him dead. As scheduled, a special set of servitors brought huge gold ornaments and jewellery from the temple treasury to the chariots amid tight security. Three sets of dressers took about two hours to dress Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra simultaneously on the three chariots. Gold ornaments of various types and styles, weighing about 100 kg, were used to deck the deities. The ornaments included giant limbs like feet, hands and insignia like mace, lotus, wheel and conch. The huge gold tiaras besides a number of special necklaces and garlands presented a spectacular look. The deities too donned big kundalas (earrings) besides chest guards, all made of gold. The darshan of this special ‘vesha’ continued till late into the night. The administration put in place a three-layered security around the three chariots. The residents, particularly those residing along the Badadanda (Grand Road), rued the faulty traffic arrangements which compelled them to go in circuitous routes. Even mediapersons were denied entry despite possessing passes issued by the SP. The 1978 inventory of the Lords’ wealth in the form of the ornaments revealed that there were 367 items of gold ornaments weighing four quintals and 251 items of silver ornaments weighing 14 quintals. Besides, there were precious ornaments studded with diamond, emerald, ruby and other precious stones of rare quality and size. Sources said out of the total seven vaults of the temple treasury, only one was opened. The deities would spend two more nights on the chariots. On Wednesday they would be entertained with Adharpana - a special drink. On the following day, Lord Jagannath will present rasgollas (sweets) to consort Mahalaxmi, peeved as she was left out of the nine-day sojourn, to appease her and open the door. Late in the night the Lords would be escorted into the ‘Ratnasimhasan’ of the sanctum sanctorum of the main temple in ceremonial ‘pahandi’.DGP MM Praharaj and Additional DGP S Marik, Temple Chief Administrator PK Mahapatra, SP Amitendranath Sinha and Collector Fakir Satpathy were present.
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