Puri, Mar 6: The Pankoudhar Ekadashi of Shree Lokanath is celebrated today. This day holds significance for Shree Lokanath, the guard of the treasure house of Shree Jagannath.

This is the grand bath (Mahasnan) of Shree Lokanath, after removing the year-round offerings of Bel leaves, flowers, gold and silver ornaments. 

The darshan for the devotees will start from 12 noon to 9pm. Barricade arrangements have been made for the smooth darshan of the Lord. 

The rituals started around 12:30 am. The worship of Sun God, Dwara pal puja, Gopal Ballabh puja, morning arati, Mahasnan and Pankoudhar was done in the morning.  

The darshan for the devotees started from 7 am in the morning which is five hours earlier than last year. Barricade arrangements have been made for the smooth darshan of the Lord. 

Legends say that Shree Ram Chandra was pivotal in the placing of Shree Lokanath Dev here. 

It is believed that worshipping Lord Lokanath on this Pankoudhar Ekadashi is equivalent to worshipping one lakh Sivalingas. 

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