Bhubaneswar: Lakhs of devotees from across Odisha and outside thronged Puri town to witness the Suna Besha ritual of Lord Jagannath and his siblings Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra today.

The sibling deities were adorned with Suna Besha (Golden Attire) on their respective chariots at the Lions’ Gate of Srimandir in the evening.

The deities had returned to the Lions’ Gate of the 12th century shrine from Srigundicha temple by riding their chariots on the Grand Road after completion of their nine-day sojourn on the occasion of Bahuda Jatra yesterday.

Srimandir servitors started decorating the deities with gold ornaments including Sri Hasta (golden hand), Sri Payar (golden feet), Sri Mukuta (golden crown), Sri Mayur Chandrika (golden peacock feather), Sri Kundal (golden earring), Sri Rahurekha (golden aura) and Sri Mala (gold necklace) on their chariots soon after the completion of Madhyahna Dhoopa, Mailam and other rituals in the afternoon.

They took more than an hour to decorate the deities with the gold ornaments. They had earlier brought huge quantities of ornaments from a temporary strongroom on Srimandir premises to the chariots amid tight security.

It is worth mentioning here that the ornaments stored at Srimandir Ratna Bhandar were shifted to a temporary strongroom by the shrine authorities last year to carry out repair work at the temple treasury.

The administration deployed around 200 platoons of police force to maintain law and order and manage crowd on the Grand Road during the ritual. The authorities also introduced several measures to avoid traffic issues at the Holy Town.

As per the tradition, Suna Besha ritual of the deities is conducted five times in a year. The deities are adorned with the Golden Attire four times in a year inside the sanctum sanctorum of Srimandir while the ritual is held once on the chariots during the annual Ratha Jatra.

It is believed that Suna Besha ritual of the deities was introduced during the reign of Gajapati King Kapilendra Deb in 1460. Kapilendra Deb had donated huge quantities of gold and silver ornaments to Srimandir after conquering several kingdoms during his rule in Odisha.

Notably, Lord Jagannath and his siblings had embarked on their journey to Srigundicha temple for a nine-day sojourn by riding their chariots on the Grand Road on the occasion of Ratha Jatra on June 27.

After making a night halt midway, the deities reached Saradhabali near Srigundicha temple June 28. The deities were escorted to the Adapa Mandap of Srigundicha temple from their chariots on June 29.

As per the schedule, the deities will be offered Adhara Pana (a delicious drink) on their chariots on June 7.

They will be taken back to the sanctum sanctorum of Srimandir from the chariots through the Pahandi procession on the occasion of Niladri Bije on July 8.