Overview

• On July 8, the Niladri Bije Pahandi procession returned Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra to the Ratna Singhasana in the sanctum sanctorum, marking the end of the nine-day Rath Yatra.
• In the Laxmi-Narayan Kali ritual, Lord Jagannath pacified an angry Goddess Laxmi by offering Rasagola sweets to gain her permission to reenter the temple.
• Temple servitors carried out a detailed sequence of closing rites—Sandhya Alati, Sandhya Dhupa, Charamala Bandha, Mahasnana, Rosa Homa, Mailama and Chandan Lagi—before mounting the Pahandi procession.
• The Odisha government’s administrative inquiry into the June 29 stampede near the Gundicha Temple, which killed three pilgrims and injured around 50, is ongoing alongside stepped-up security and medical measures.
• Puri observed Rasagola Divas to honour the centuries-old tradition and the 15th-century Odia texts that record the divine offering to Goddess Laxmi.