Puri Rathy Yatra - the chariot festival of puri in orissa India.In the first phase of the rituals, the Chandan Yatra, the Chalanti Pratimas (moving images) of the deities take a ceremonial ride in a boat in Narendra Tank for 21 consecutive days, after a refreshing bath in fragrant sandal wood (chandan) scented water. This is followed by Snana Yatra, Literally the festival of bath, in which the three are taken to Snana Badi, a bathing platform where the deities are ceremonially bathed with 108 pitchers of water. After which the gods are believed to convalesce inside the sanctum sanctorum and undergo treatment in which special ayurvedic medicine and some special liquid diet (sarapana) is offered to them. Closed to public view, during this period of 15 days, the pilgrims have to be satisfied with a darshan of images on the Pattachitra paintings hanged there.
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