Puri: Lakhs of devotees Friday thronged the Jagannath temple to have Nabajauban darshan of deities inside the Jagannath temple here. With just one day left for nine-day Rath Yatra to start in this pilgrim city and the lords have recovered from illness after 15 day healing rituals at ‘Anasaragruha’. Thousands of ardent devotees were seen waiting in long serpentine queues since wee hours today to catch a glimpse of the deities.
The temple authorities have made two types of systems for the darshan of the lords. After entry through Dakhina Dwara (south gate), devotees can have darshan of the deities from the Bhitara Katha since the Jagamohan has been opened for public this year.
Sources said, the Chaka ‘Apasara’ ritual of deities has been completed since 6 am and the ‘Parimanik’ darshan of the Trinity has begun from 8 am. General darshan of the deities will begin from 9 am to 10.30 am.
The devotees can have sahanmela (free darshan) from 9.00 am till 10.00 am from Bhitara Katha inside the temple.
Later, other rituals of the deities will start from around 10.00 am for preparation of Ratha Yatra scheduled to start from Saturday.