The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c17.s1.284

v2.c17.s1.284

2. *Abhiṣeka*. The second festival is the counterpart of the *Puṣya Yātrā* of Bhuvaneśvara (p. [78]) and the rituals are very much the same. Images of wood painted with oil colours do not, however, admit of so frequent bathing without injury as amorphous blocks of stone do, and the 108 pitchers of water from the Vindu Sāgara tank of Bhuvaneśvara have, therefore, to be dispensed with at Puri and the bathing reduced to an emblematical ritual, the setting off of the images in royal robes and rich ornaments forming the most prominent feature of the ceremonial. The day is sacred as the anniversary of Jagannātha's coronation. In Bengal it is observed by an extra worship of Viṣṇu. One of the Smṛtis, the *Yātrā Tattva* of Raghunandana, reckons it among the 12 Yātrās of Viṣṇu. Fifteen days earlier, the preceding full-moon 'is the anniversary of Buddha's visit to Ceylon and the beginning of the Tibetan new year,' but the subsequent full-moon is celebrated as a day of festival by the Buddhist Vaiṣṇavas of Paṇḍhārpur.