The sacred Adhara Pana ritual of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, and Devi Subhadra will be observed today on the Bada Danda (Grand Road) in Puri, marking one of the concluding ceremonies of the Rath Yatra festival.
This ritual is performed annually on Ashadha Shukla Dwadashi, the twelfth day of the bright fortnight of the lunar month of Ashadha, a day after the Suna Besha and just before Niladri Bije.
In this deeply symbolic ritual, each deity seated on their respective chariots is offered a sacred sweet drink known as ‘Pana’, prepared by Mahasuara servitors. The drink is made using ingredients like milk, banana, chhena (cheese), camphor, nutmeg, black pepper, and water, and poured into nine large earthen pots per chariot.
These pots are deliberately broken after the offering, allowing the sacred liquid to flow across the chariot platform. Importantly, this drink is not meant for human consumption. It is exclusively offered to subsidiary deities and wandering spirits believed to accompany or guard the Trinity on their annual journey, as a gesture of liberation and appeasement.
The ritual begins at 4:30 PM and continues till 8:30 PM. Tomorrow, the deities will return to the sanctum of Srimandir during the Niladri Bije ritual, concluding the grand journey that began with the Rath Yatra.
