Suna Bhesha of Puri Jaganntha Temple

Suna Bhesha, also known as Raja or Rajadhiraja bhesha or Raja Bhesha, is an event when the Lord Jagannath and other deities Balabhadra, and Goddess Subhadra are adorned with gold jewelry.Suna Bhesha is observed 5 times during a year.It is commonly observed on Magha Purnima (January), Bahuda Ekadashi also known as Asadha Ekadashi (July), Dashahara (Vijyadashami) (October), Karthik Purnima (November), and Pousa Purnima (December).The name Suna Bhesha is derived from two words, 'Suna' meaning "gold" and 'Bhesha' meaning "costume"

      During the reign of Ananga Bhima Deva, the king of Utkal, Lord Jagannath was declared as 'Utkal Samrat' or "Lord of the Nation" in the 13th century,and by then the Jagannath Temple at Puri had been built by him in 1198. According to temple history, Suna Bhesha was introduced during the era of King Kapilendradeva in 1460 A.D. When the king Kapilendradeva (r.1434-1466 AD) returned home triumphant after winning wars over the rulers of the Deccan (Southern India) he brought a huge bounty which was carried in 16 cart loads (on 16 elephants is also mentioned.). The trophies which he collected consisted of diamonds and gold. The day he arrived in Puri he donated all the booty to the Lord Jagannath. He instructed the temple priests to get ornaments crafted out of the gold and diamond he had donated to adorn the deities on the occasion of the Ratha Yatra festival. Since then the deities, Jagannatha, Balabharda and Subhadra are decorated with this jewelry after the Bahuda Yatra.

Ornaments of deities

The gold ornaments are stored at the temple’s treasury known as Bhitaara Bhandaraghara. According to the "Records of Rights", the bhandara (store) has 150 gold articles comprising three necklaces of 120 tolas (each tola is equivalent to 11.33980925 grams) weight each, limbs (hands and feet) of Jagannatha and Balabhadra made in gold of 818 tolas and 710 tolas weight. Also recorded are decorative crowns of the deities Jagannatha, Balabhadra and Subhadra in the order of 610 tolas, 434 tolas and 274 tolas in weight. The estimated value of these ornaments is said to run into several million crores. The security of all the jewelry rests with the Temple Police force, which is controlled by the Temple Managing Committee. When the jewelry is brought out for decorating the deities in the chariots, armed policemen accompany it along with a minimum of 25 storekeepers.Except the priests and the servitors no one else is allowed to remain on the chariots for security reasons. Devotees get a Darśana or a vision of the Suna Bhesha of the deities from a certain distance.

According to the temple sources, in the past, the total weight of the gold ornaments used to adorn the deities weighed more than 208 kg initially made in 138 designs. However, now only 20-30 designs are used.