Puri: The Anasar ritual of Lord Jagannath and sibling deities Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra will be observed for 13 days, instead of 15 days, this year, as per the almanac. Usually, Anasar ritual is observed for a fortnight before the commencement of the annual Rath Yatra. Important rituals like ‘Ubha Yatra’ and ‘Netra Utshav’ will be performed simultaneously.
Deities will appear in new youthful images and priests will perform the required rituals of the Besha sans public darshan. The birthday of Lord Hanuman on ‘Pana Sankranti’ will be observed April 14 at Srimandir.
Temple sources said ‘Panchuka’, the last five days of Kartik Brat, has been reduced to four days. As a result, one ceremonial Laxmi- Nrusingh Vesha, which is regularly observed on the 15th day of the Panchuka, has been dispensed with. The presiding deities of the Sri Jagannath temple are dressed in five different ‘Beshas’ on these last five days of Panchuka during the holy ‘Kartik’ month.
Srimandir records reflect that a similar astronomical conjunction was experienced in 1959-60 and 1971-72. The Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) had then resolved to follow the procedures adopted in observance of the rituals of lord Jagannath and his siblings. The temple administration has approved these new calculations after much hue and cry among devotees over the confusion regarding the observation of festivals as almost all Panzikas differ from one another. Sri Jagannath temple administration organised a meeting of all Panzica (almanac) publishing houses and Panzeekars (astrologers) of the state including Panjeekar of the Srimandir Monday to sort out anomalies that have confused devotees.
Prafulla Mishra, secretary of Mukti Mandap Pandit Sabha, astrologer Nilamadhab Dash, M K Bisi the publisher of the astrological journal Bhagyalipi, Jagannath Rath Sharma editor of G N Tripathy publication, Dolagobind Panda Panzikar of Samant Chandrashekhar Panzika, and Baikunthnath Nayak a noted astrologer participated in the meeting.