Snana Purnima 2022 Date, Tithi, Snana Jatra Rituals of Lord Jagannath in Puri

The Snana Jatra or Deba Snana Purnima, a ceremonial bath of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra, is an important event in the run-up to the Ratha Jatra or the Car Festival in Odisha’s Puri.

The day, the full-moon day of the month of Jyestha, is considered to be the birthday of Lord Jagannath.

Snana Purnima 2022 Date: June 14, Tuesday.

Tithi Begins: June 13, 2022 9:03 PM.

Tithi Ends: June 14, 2022 5:21 PM.

For the very first time, devotees will be allowed to have darshan of Lord Jagannath and His siblings for three hours at the Snana Mandap of the Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri on the occasion of Snana Jatra on June 14, 2022.

After Hati Besha ritual of the deities, they will be allowed for the darshan at Snana Mandap. However, the devotees will not be allowed to touch the idols of the deities.

Pahandi of the deities will start from 4 am and end by 6 am. The Jala Bije ritual will be held between 9.30 am and 11.30 am. The Chera Pahara ritual is scheduled to take place at 12.15 pm while the Hati Besha ritual will be held between 12.30 pm and 2.30 pm.

Significance and Rituals of Snana Jatra:

According to the Skanda Purana, Raja Indradyumna, who installed the wooden Deities, introduced the idea of giving Them a bath.

The deities are bathed with 108 pitchers of water drawn from a well situated near the Sitala temple in the confines of the Jagannatha temple.

There is a view that like all other major festivals in Odisha, Snana Jatra has direct links with agrarian calendar of the state and that the ritual bath signifies the onset of monsoon.

After the bath, the deities are dressed up in the Gajanana (elephant) or Ganesha Besha and their daily food offering or Bhogalagi is made on the Snana Mandap, in full public view.

After the Snana Jatra, the three deities are kept away from public view for 15 days and this temporary disappearance is called the ‘Anasara’ period. The popular belief is that after the ritualistic bath, the deities develop fever and therefore do not return to the sanctum sanctorum.

However, it is during this period that the ‘washed’ wooden deities get a fresh coat of colour before they appear in public in their new-look ‘Naba Joubana Besha’, a day before they set out on their chariots to the Gundicha temple.