Mammoth gathering at Puri

PURI: Over five lakh devotees witnessed the ‘Raja Rajeswar besha’ of Lord Jagannath, Devi Subhadra and Lord Balabhadra on Thursday. It is observed on the occasion of Kartika Purnima every year when the deities are adorned with 23 types of gold ornaments.Early morning, devotees sailed miniature boats in the Mahodadhi and other sacred ponds in the city as a part of the ‘Boita Bandana’. They then offered prayers to the Sun God and visited Jagannath temple to witness the ‘besha’.Though 40 platoons of police force was deployed, they found it tough to manage the crowd.Besides, the district administration had deployed hundreds of life guards at the beach while plainclothed policemen kept a vigil on the crowd from watchtowers. E