Puri sees bath festival

PURI - The annual bath festival of the three deities at the temple town of Puri took place Saturday with thousands witnessing the event.

The deities of Lord Jagannath, his elder brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra were taken out of the temple in a ceremonial procession to the snana mandap - a bathing platform in the outer enclosure of the temple.

The Snana Yatra involves bathing of the deities with 108 pitchers of perfumed water drawn from a temple well. It takes place ahead of the annual chariot festival or Ratha Yatra.

Ratha Yatra is the grand culmination of a series of celebrations involving the deities. This year the festival will be held July 13-21.

The festival marks the annual journey of the three deities from the 12th century Jagannath temple, 56 km from here, in decorated wooden chariots.