The
Snana Yatra is a bathing festival celebrated on the Purnima (full moon day) of
the Hindu month of Jyeshtha. It is an important festival of the Jagannath
devotees. This is the first occasion in the year as per the Hindu calendar,
when the deities Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra, Sudarshan, and Madanmohan are
brought out from the Jagannath Temple (Puri) and taken in a procession to the
Snana Bedi. There they are ceremonially bathed and wear traditional yellowcolor Kahndua pata decorated for a public audience with the devotees.
It is a belief among devotees of
Lord Jagannath that if they make a pilgrimage to see the deity on this day,
they would be cleansed of all of their sins. Hundreds of thousands of devotees
visit the temple on the occasion. The Skanda Purana mentions
that King Indradyumna arranged this ceremony for the first time when the idols
of the deities were first installed.