Bhubaneswar: As many as 30 Bhoi servitors retrieved five boats from the holy Narendra Pond to keep them ready for the 42-day-long Chandan Festival which will commence from Akshaya Tritiya.
As per the temple tradition, wooden boats submerged in the holy tank Narendra at Puri for the upcoming Chandan Yatra are being pulled out by the Bhoi temple servitors on the full moon day. Today, five boats such as Nanda and Bhadra were recovered from the holy Narendra Pond by Bhoi servitors to mark Chaitra Purnima.
These boats will be repaired and readied for Chandan Yatra.
All five boats are broken and immersed in the Narendra Pond by the boat attendants after the completion of the Chandan festival.
Chandan Yatra is also known as Sandalwood Voyage. In this festival Lord Jagannath, five Pandavas, Sridevi and Bhudevi are taken out in a procession from the Singhadwara of the Jagannath temple to the Narendra Tirtha pond for bathing.
The ceremony is divided into two parts: one is Bahara Chandana Yatra which starts from Akshaya Tritiya and continues for 21 days and another is Bhitara Chandana Yatra that continues for another 21 days.
During this festival, the idols of Madanmohan (representative image of Lord Jagannath), Bhudevi, Sridevi, Ramakrushna and Panchu Pandavas take part in the Chapa Khela or water sports. While the idols are taken in a procession from the Singhadwara to Narendra Pokhari in one palanquin, the Panchu Pandavas come in their respective palanquins. After various rituals, the deities are placed on grandly decorated boats for an evening cruise of the tank.
