SNANA PURNIMA

PURI JAGANNATH TEMPLE

LORDS AT SNANA BEDI
Snana Purnima, also known as Deba Snana Purnima, is one of the most important yatras at the World famous Puri Jagannath Temple in Odisha(Puri),India. Puri Jagannath temple is one of the DHAM of CHAR DHAM.

Snana Purnima is the bathing festival celebrated on the Purnima(full moon day) in the month of Jyestha. It is an important festival of Jagannath culture. On this day the Deities Shri Jgannath, Shri Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra, Sudarshan and madanmohan are brought out from the Jagannath temple from Ratna Bedi and taken in a procession to the Snana Bedi which is within the complex of the temple. Here the Pujaris bathe the Deities with 108 golden water pots of refreshing sandal-scented water.. The 108 pots of wate is brought from the well near Sitala temple in the premises of the Jgannath temple.

PUJARIS ARE BATHING THE DEITIES
Deba Snana Purnima is a exclusive festival of Lord  Jagannath and is said to be  one of the oldest. According to the Skanda Purana when Raja Idradyumna installed the wooden deities He arranged this bathing ceremony. This day is considered to be the birthday of Lord Jagannath.

GAJANANA BESHA(LOOK LIKE GANESHA)
After the bathing ceremony the deities are dressed in  Seda Besa and in the afternoon they are  dressed as Hati Besha-in the form of Lord Ganesha.
There is a nice story behind it, Gnapati Bhatta, a devotee of Ganesha who had come from Karnataka, during Snana Purnima to see the festival, was disappointed by not seeing the Ganapati image an the bathing platform. To satisfy the religious sentiments of this devotee, the Lord Jagannath appeared as Ganesha. So from that day, the Gajanana or Hati Besha of the deities is being done.
After the bath of the deities, the deities are believed to fall sick. It is believed that during this time the deities don't keep well and therefore take rest.Like human beings they are considered to have fallen ill and treated by the Raj Vaidya(King's Physician) with specific medicines. So for this reason deities are kept away from public view for 15 days. This perid is called 'Anasara' and the image instead of Ratnavedi, are kept on a special room, aliitle ahead of the Ratna vedi within the inner santum. And on the 16th day, the deities appears before the devotees in a ceremony called Nava Jauvana darsana or Netrotsaba and on the 17th day  the deities are taken out of th temple for the famous Rath Yatra.