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Once upon a time there was a king named Indradumnya. One day he came to
know that Lord Vishnu himself was residing in a tribal forest of Odra (Odisha)
and he was being worshipped there in the form of Neela Madhava. Indradumnya was
too eager to have a darshan of Neela Madhava and he sent his court Brahmin Vidyapati to the tribal
village to investigate the matter. The tribal king’s name was Viswavasu and he
was the one who worshipped the deity. But after repeated inquiry he did not
divulge Vidyapati the whereabouts of Neela Madhava. But Vidyapati was not ready
to give up his mission yet. Instead, he married Viswavasu’s daughter Lalita and
settled among the tribe. After some time, Lalita convinced her father to take
Vidyapati to the cave where Neela Madhava was residing. Viswavasu blindfolded
his son-in-law and took him to his place of worship. Vidyapati played a trick.
He took with himself some mustard seeds and dropped them on the way. The seeds
sprouted after a few days and it was easy for Vidyapati to find the cave
afterwards. Then he informed the king and king Indradumnya set out for Odra on
a pilgrimage to view the deity. But when he arrived Neela Madhava had already
left the place. Viswavasu had hidden him in the sand. Indradumnya’s heart was
broken and he promised in the name of Lord Vishnu that if he did not allow him
a darshan he would fast until his death on the spot. Then a celestial voice spoke
out from the sky that the king’s wish would be granted. Indradumnya broke his
fast and built the world’s largest temple for Neela Madhava atop Mount Neela
(Neelachal or Puri Dham). Later the king had a vision of Lord Jagannatha in his
sleep and he was directed to find a tree on the sea shore and make idols out of
it. The king complied and went to the place. He saw a great Margosa tree (Daru
Brahma) with four main branches and the marks of lotus, conch, club and disc
engraved on it. The king brought the log to the temple and invited the best
sculptors in the country to carve images out of it. But no one could perform
the task. Then the Supreme Lord himself came in the disguise of an artist and
told the king, ‘My king, if you give me 21 days and allow me to work behind
closed doors, I can finish the job.’ The king agreed
to his condition. After 14 days passed, the king did not hear a sound coming
out of the closed room and he grew anxious. He could not wait and forced open
the door.
The sculptor was nowhere to be seen in the room. Only the unfinished
images of Lord Jagannatha, Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Chakra Sudarshana
were sitting in the room. The king thought he had offended the deities and he
started fasting in order to redeem his sin. Lord Jagannath again appeared in
his dream and assured him that he is eternally situated here in Nilachala in
the form of Daru Brahma. Then the king took the unfinished images and installed
them in the temple. Later he invited Lord Brahma to sanctify the temple and the
images. Lord Brahma was very pleased with the king after seeing the temple and
wanted to grant the king’s wish. In reply, Indradumnya prayed to Lord Brahma,
‘My Lord, if you are so please with me then grant me the wish that I shall
never have any children and I shall be the last of my family so that no one
after me takes the pride as the owner of the temple.’ Needless to say, the
great king’s wish was granted. As per Lord Jagannath’s wish the descendants of
Viswavasu, the Dayitapatis are allowed to serve the Supreme Lord generations
after generation. The descendants of Vidyapati’s Brahmin wife perform the worship
and the Suyaras, the descendants of Lalita cook the Mahaprasad.
It was King Anantavarman Deva of Eastern Ganga dynasty who built the
Puri temple on top of its ruin during 12th century.
His successor King Anangabhima Deva finished the job in 1174 CE by giving it
the shape in which it stands today. According to the records maintained by the
temple authority, the Lord Jagannath temple has been invaded and looted
eighteen times. In 1558, Kalapahad , Afghan general of Sulaiman Karrani,
destroyed the temple. Later the temple was consecrated by King Ramachandra Deb
and the deities were reinstalled.
The Puri temple of Lord Jagannath is considered to be one of the holiest
places as per the Hindu religion. It is said that if one dies at Shree Kshetra
(Puri), one will achieve the Moksha. The concept of Moksha is similar to that of Nirvana of Buddhism. Having achieved the Moksha, one’s atma or soul will reunite with the Paramatma, which is the Ultimate Celestial Body that has no beginning and no end. There is one thing
about the Jagannath temple that makes it unique among all other Hindu temples
in the world. Only at Jagannath temple one can see three main sects of Hindu
religion being congregated, namely Vaishnavism, Saivism and Shaktism. The
scholars say that originally it was only Lord Jagannath who was being
worshipped in the temple. It is, therefore, believed that an image of Goddess
Durga was installed by the side of Lord Jagannath during the revival of
Shaktism from 7th century onwards. Goddess Durga (who is
also known as Bhadra or Bhadra Kali) became Lord Jagannath’s sister Subhadra
later on during Vaishnavite resurgence. Moreover, this theory grows stronger by
the fact that Subhadra is also considered to be a form of Yogmaya which is an
integral part of the Supreme Celestial Energy. Similarly, Lord Shiva’s another
name is Veerabhadra and he became Balabhadra when Vaishnavism flourished again.
The influence of Shaktism still prevails strongly in the temple by the fact
that the food offered to Lord Jagannath is not considered Mahaprasad unless it is first offered to Goddess
Vimala whose shrine is situated in the temple premises.
The Jagannath Temple is famous for the great Chariot Festival or the
Rath Jatra. On this auspicious occasion the four deities come out of the temple
and set out for Gundicha temple via Mausi Maa Temple on different chariots of
their own. They stay at the Gundicha temple for nine days and then come back
home. The return journey is called Bahuda Jatra. The three chariots of Lord
Jagannatha, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra are known as Nandighosha,
Taladhwaja and Devadalana respectively. The English word 'juggernaut'
owes its origin to the massiveness of the chariots of Rath Yatra. As per
ancient Hindu scriptures, the chariot symbolizes with body and the deity with
the soul; while the charioteer signifies wisdom that control mind and thoughts.
I never call myself a devotee, rather far from it. But the philosophy of the
Hindu religion will never to cease to amaze me. It's a pity that majority of
people take it on the face value. Anyway. Every year the living descendant of
Gajapati dynasty performs Chhera Pahara before the Jatra takes off. Chhera Pahara means sweeping with water. As per this ritual, the king appears in the
outfit of a sweeper and cleanses the road before the chariots with a gold
handled broom and sandalwood water. This ritual signifies that there is no difference between a king and a common man in front of the Supreme Lord.
Once Gajapati King Purushottoma Deva came to know that the King of
Kanchipuram called him a chandal (a person of low birth) because he swept the roads before the deities.
The infuriated king declared a war against Kanchi and set out with his army.
After a day’s journey they halted near Chilka Lake and camped there. Then a milkmaid came to him and gave him a bejewelled ring. She told him, ‘O king,
before you arrived, two men, riding on one black and one white horse, came to
me and bought curd from me. They did not have any money to pay with, so they
gave me this ring and told me that King Purushottoma Deva would soon pass by
this place and if I gave him the ring he would pay me the price of the curd.’
The king realised that the two men were none other than Lord Jagannath and his
big brother Lord Balabhadra and that they were guiding him on his way. The king
rewarded the milkmaid and built her a village in that place. The village was
known as Manika Pattana after the name of the woman.
This year’s Rath Jatra is considered a more special one owing to the
great ceremony of Naba Kalebara. Naba means new, Kalebara means body. This year the main four deities left their old images and
took new body. It is a noteworthy fact that, only in Puri temple the deities
behave in a very mortal manner. They fall sick; they die and then take rebirth.
What makes the event of Naba Kalebara so special is that it only happens after
12 to 19 years. The last ceremony took place back in 1996. The most important
ritual of this event is the Brahma Parivartana part. According to popular myth, the Brahma Padartha or the Sole Object of Lord Jagannath is hidden inside the hollow of the
idol. Till date nobody has seen it or touched it directly. During the Naba
Kalebara ceremony, the object is transferred from old image to the new image
with utmost secrecy. Only the Dayitapatis are allowed to do the transfer that
too, blindfolded. Some says it contains a very rare form of Salagram Sila; some
says it is the remains of Lord Buddha. The most interesting theory is that it
contains the remains of the Dwarka King, Lord Krishna.
Rath Jatra is widely celebrated in Bengal. In fact, it is one of the
greatest festivals of Bengal. The connection between Odisha and Bengal dates
long way back when they were part of one single kingdom. The best part of Rath
Jatra in Bengal is that one can see myriad miniature versions of chariots are
being pulled by the children on the street. When I was a kid, I had one two
storied chariot myself and I would decorate with utmost care and devotion every
year. In fact whose chariot was the best decorated one was a matter of ultimate
pride among us.
Wish all my readers a very happy and prosperous Rath Jatra. May the
blessings of Lord Jagannath shower upon all. May every one achieve the Moksha
and be free from all earthly pain and sorrow and find Celestial Bliss.
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