Snan Jatra is an annual event associated with
Jagannath temple at
Mahesh in
Hooghly District. The festival is celebrated during the months of June-July, at the same time when the Snan Yatra festival is held in the
Jagannath Temple at
Puri. A sizeable number of pilgrims throng to the village to take a dip in the holy
Ganges.
According to legend, a holy person named Drubananda Brahmachari once undertook a pilgrimage to the Jagannath Temple at Puri. He was however prevented from making an offering personally to the deities. Dejected he almost decided to give up his life. But in his dream the lord appeared and asked him to proceed to the village named Mahesh. Following the dream, the saintly person reached the village. He found 3 wooden trunks of ‘neem’ (Azadirachta indica) tree. Out of these trunks he sculpted an exact replica of the deities belonging to the Jagannath Temple. These idols, believed to be more than 500 years old, are still worshipped today. The Snan Jatra remembers this occasion.
Rath yatra is held two weeks after the Snan Jatra.
