Vesha
ବେଶ
The Lord is dressed. The dress is the theology.
A besha is not a costume change for a crowd. It is how the day, or the season, names him. What follows is the ones Puri is known by. The temple keeps more than these, and a festival can move any of them.
Every night
ବଡ଼ସିଂହାର
Badasinghara
The besha the night queue is for. Baralagi patta — silk carrying Jayadeva’s couplets — then flowers, tulsi and dayana. The eyes stay clear. After it comes the last dhupa, and then Pahuda, when the doors are sealed.
The day after Bahuda, and on other appointed days
ସୁନାବେଶ
Suna Besha
Gold, worn where the city can see it. The one people mean is the Suna Besha on the chariots, the day after Bahuda. Gold is also put on at other appointed days in the year. This portal does not publish a weight for it.
Snana Purnima
ଗଜାନନ ବେଶ
Gajanana
On Jyeshtha Purnima the deities are bathed in public, then dressed as Gajanana — an elephant visage — before they withdraw. Anasara follows. The wooden forms are understood to be fevered, and pati dian, painted cloths, stand in for darshan.
A Saturday in the cool season
ପଦ୍ମ ବେଶ
Padma Besha
Lotus, brought to the black face. It is not a daily dress. The temple keeps it on a chosen Saturday when the season allows the flower. The eyes remain the darshan.
Seasons, not pictures
Kept without a portrait here
Through Kartika
Radha Damodara
A season, not an hour. From after Dasahara the Lord keeps the Radha-Damodara besha until Kartika closes.
In Kartika
Kaliyadalana
The ornaments tell the subduing of the serpent Kaliya. The murti does not become a dancing human body. The besha is the telling.
Only in certain years
Nagarjuna
Not an annual promise. When the calendar of Kartika brings the required alignment, this rare besha is kept. Many years it is not.