Shri Jagannath Puri Rath Yaatra
GOP I sweep the yard every morning and evening one day I got late that day Gods appeared in my dreams and asked Why do you sweep so late we are waking up to an unkempt front yard Why do you do it so late? actually, we never knew earlier a Baba (mendicant) came from Allahbad he meditated here for 45 days then he explained the markers on the tree he showed us we feel proud that God is being picked from our front yard but we also feel sad Four trees are required for the idols Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarsana these trees must have specific markers we need to decipher and decide some have eleven markers and some seven some twenty-two another fourteen additionally there are certain secret markers which I can't disclose Brahma (Soul matter) represents the God unless that Brahma is placed inside the wooden idols it is just another tree Daru Brahma!
those trees must have acquired good fortune over the ages it may have meditated for years hundred and fifty years two hundred years that tree will come to Nilanchal (Puri temple)38 to be worshipped as Mahaprabhu (God) He is Jagannath Lord of the world saviour of this universe His manifestations in such forms are self-created this is the ocean of milk-white island is Puri jewelled platform is Jagannath temple on this shore of the milky ocean God is resting in eternal sleep The eternally joyous lord of Purushottam Jagannath Mahaprabhu since ages.
He has manifested in this pious Purushottam land on Neeladri mountain He shows many miracles for the pleasures of his devotees I Jai Jagannath! Kalia Samanta (the dark-skinned savant) is reigning Ranta Sinmhasana (jewelled throne) just like human beings He also does daily morning chores like brushing teeth washing face and bathing He does so while donning this costume known as Tadapa morning ablution is known as Avakasha thus this Vehsa (ritual costume) is colloquially called Avakasha Vesha Jai Jagannath! If we carefully look at Jagannath we will realise that He is not entirely anthropomorphic in my feelings he is merely a human sketch just like a line drawing lips are red as hibiscus petals eyes round as circles protruding nose arms come out right below neck it’s like between being there and not too man is mortal so is,
He since He is made from Daru wood thus it has to change melodic rendition describing the beauty of Jagannath, and His attachment to His followers Naba means new Kalebara means the body Jagannath Mahaprabhu when there is a twin Ashadha (Monsoon month) which usually falls after every 12 years or more the idols are changed this process is called Nabakalebara melodic rendition describing good fortune of Odisha since Lord Jagannath chose her as His abode.
It must have been some good deed we accrued in our past life that we are born in Daitapati clan its God's blessing we will do our duty responsibly but in actuality, God does His own work Call Raja and others inside The commencement of Nabakalebara ritual is formally flagged off by Gajapati Maharaj (the king of Puri) it is called theGuateka ritual (raising the areca nut) around 10 am in Sri Nahara (Puri city palace) at the ceremonial Dias Gajapati king will raise the are can to the Rajguru (royal priest) in return he will hand it over to them (Daitapatis) when the Banajaga jati (servitors)would reach the Sri Nahara Viswabasu and Vidyapati would receive the areca nut from the Rajguru this marks the traditional commencement of Nabakalebara ritual.
This is our source of energy this piece of silk fabric it will be tied around our head as it is tied we acquire energy with that energy we shall walk inspector Tripathy Jai Jagannath! where you posted now? Chandrapur Our village is Kot Samalai its located one kilometre away from there
I come here everyday by bicycle keep it below take a bath and walk up to this place He is Patali Jagannath its a story from 7th - 8th century Patali Kshetra (the place of burial) it was the time when King Sovandev ruled as the Gajapati king in Puri one Raktabahu attacked Jagannath ordered the king in his dreams following that dream he brought the Jagannath deities here in a cart this place was a dense forest then full of wild animals like tigers and bear in the corner of the hillock they buried Jagannath in a cave they covered its mouth with a boulder and planted a banyan tree on top of it this way Jagannath remained here for 144 years when King Jajati Keshari began his rule later he began an enquiry with the help of Shankaracharya and came to the King of Sonepur Sonepur King had copper plates inscribed with this information after collecting such informations they arrived here and saw the Banyan tree a big stone covering the entrance below imagine wooden deities buried under the earth for 144 years would they stay intact?
they got eaten by termite they went back to Puri with the Brahma (Soul matter) carved new idols inserted the soul matter in them started worshipping again ever since Nabakalebara started in Puri Sudarsana Chakra is travelling in front of us He is our guide for this journey His power and grace would provide us with vitality and longevity Jagannath!saviour of this universe we have surrendered ourselves to Him He understands this sense of surrender he will never give up on his devotees nor his servitors He travels with us like a shadow whenever we are in trouble He rescues us and we are ready again our Lord is with us always this is my personal feelings and conviction He is a very emotional God whoever reaches out to Him ardently He would be with them like a shadow.
The concept of a 'Daru' (wooden) idol is ancient ever since idol worship exists wood worship has been around Neem is bitter immune to pest attacks with such consideration Neem tree is considered suitable for making idols its time has arrived we can't stop it from going it is being considered as Kalia (Jagannath) now it will soon be heading to Sreekhetra (Puri) people are asking for its leaves and soil one who believes will worship its soil as Kalia(Jagannath), not everybody only those ones who are truly devoted there is a story about this neem tree soon to be the God my father-in-law used to tell us a villager planned to put up a brick kiln so he wanted to chop this tree for firewood as he tried to get on the tree to chop he couldn't climb up a branch broke and he fell down whereas when the cyclone struck not even a twig broke
I am talking about the super cyclone then the villagers started worshipping it we lit a lamp every evening one worships so that one can live well a better life than usual and a peaceful death that’s all that's the point God would protect our children and bless my husband with good health that’s it we worship to escape the tortures of hell but one has done the right deeds if you have done bad deeds since childhood you make amends at old age and absolve it's not possible that's the truth of life the wind is too strong today please pile them up in one place n the barnyard? yes heap them in the front yard The duty of the Deula Karan is to supervise all rituals from opening the doors in the morning till the Pahuda (late night) all the offerings and services that take place Deula Karana oversees all that for instance during this Kalebara ritual Patimahapatra, Daitapati, Deula Karan then Tadau Karan also Bishwakarma and Lenka all these people come together during Banajaga also along with them come to Rajguru and Purohit do you see how many people here many not all of them have the same outlook and I have to take everybody along and yet there are gaps it’s like all five fingers are not the same this one has a certain opinion other one thinks differently everyone thinks
I am supporting the other so everyone blames me this is how it has been going on till date this will go on till the very last and God will guide us in solving them Nabakalebara is to receive orders about the Daru from the Goddess the Banajaga retinue carry from the royal treasury of Jagannath special offerings for the Marjana of the Goddess with the materials for Marjana the Mother Goddess is anointed it starts with a ceremonial bath after that the Sudarsana Chakra is placed near Her feet on the throne rituals of dressing ensures this done with a special intent that the Mother Goddess would be appeased and supply key information about the Daru and its geographic location Nabakalebara means Jagannath needs a new form it doesn't mean He is going to die a new form is needed for Him to dwell for the next almost twenty years to facilitate this arrangement
He gives instructions through Goddess Mangala and She is not going to give it like a human thus She was invoked and appeased through Marjana we request her, oh Mother please guide us in our quest for suitable Daru so that we can identify them quickly within this limited time so that Nabakalebara could take place the Mother Goddess would instruct us through a dream on how and where to locate the Daru so she would so us the path so whether through a dream or a person it will reach us in any of these means have you got all your luggage? one more suitcase here he is getting it this place is the launching pad it will end somewhere else He is everywhere He gets everything done He is on both sides
He is with the thief asking to steal to the police He is saying catch Jai Jagannath over a century ago the great poet Radhanath Ray wrote a Poem called Chandrabhaga a poetic rendition of the diverse geography of Odisha from these lines we can visualise about a century and a half ago the Kakatpur region was a jungle area full of tigers and bear there was an impenetrable jungle in Odisha just imagine Nabakalebara is a century-old tradition so during those times without the blessings of a Goddess would it have been possible to carry out searcing and locating such special Daru would it have been possible?
today people might think it a bit obscure since science has progressed media has come in people can sit at one spot and know about the world it wasn't like that a century ago so we can say without doubt that only with the blessings and instruction of Goddess Mangala the Daitapatis could manage to venture into thse impenetrable jungle and reach to those Divine Daru That yellow pillar that yuo see there it was buried upto that height earth covered the boundary till the pedestal it was visible only above that mound the trunk goes two and half feet underground up to this level here where we are standing now two and half feet below from that height it has a plethora of significant markers I can't say about how it will be for other idols but this tree is already emanating Malaya Chandana the frangrant sandal breeze this is such an important marker another marker the Chakra (disc) sign every tree must have one chakra but this one has two in the area around Bhubaneshwar in the last hundred or two hundred years a God has appeared here rituals condcuted in the jangle is called Banajaga in actuality its village area today not Bana (Jungle) as it used to be called its village area today it is just a tree now waiting for Brahma(soul) to be ascribed to it Bhrahma is omnipresent isn't it?
Brahma is everywhere a tree will be infused with Brahma within it Jagannath will be instilled in it and then He will be worshipped by one and all in order to achieve such elevation it just not about worshipping a chopped wooden log today He is considered God all over the world attracting so many people are enamoured by Him crazy about Him is it just for an ordinary piece of wood? there is only one Tatva (element) sum of all elements and the sum of all elements is Jagannath the Parama Tatva (primal element) and for him, only one Mantra is used that is the Patal Nrushingha Mantra this well-composed Mantra has been dedicated to our Lord by our ancient philosophers they have determined that this mantra would be evoked for the initiation fire ritual of Mahaprabhu(Lord) Mantra is not to be discussed in public
It is kept a secret highly confidential how will it be productive when one pronounces it with heart and soul with all ritual purity and chants it only then the Mantra becomes dynamic since yesterday evening we have not touched food or water I am having difficulty while talking but God is giving us strength we are chanting Patala Nrusingha Mantra as I speak to you now my tounge is drying up my energy depletes as I speak it is painful but no problem it is God's will I am sure everything will go well once the tree transforms into Prabhu(God) automatically the enviornment and the ambience would transform Jai Jagannath Odia Paper Samaj, Dharitri, Sambad Paper(Newspapers) read hot News the son will leave on the 24th mother would cry Hey you little boy come away how can you be so careless boy how can you stand so close to the rails paper Odia paper Samaj, Dharitri, Sambad Paper read hot fresh newsOdia paper all of you please visit at most by the 24th the elder son Balabhadra He is going to leave on the 24th the mother will cry being left alone because when a son goes away definitely the mother cries because who understands the mother-son relationship will surely know what I meanread today's newspaper I reve re Balabhadra a lot Why?
cause He is very magnanimous particularly the current Deity he is very kind there is no one more generous than Him He gave so much to everybody He clothed and fed himself quite generously but He also looked after others so well He just made everybody prosper now He is on His way out this year the next one who's coming what will he do we don't know we had considered 131 Neem tree and shortlisted a tree near Kanasa village for Subhadra this what we had thought but once we saw the Jagannath Daru two people suddenly turned up and brought us here
we have an internal method of finalising Daru for Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarshana we deliberated on this tree to be Balabhadrasince a Shiva temple is closeby but our Balabhadra Baragrahi didn't get convinced then I said let me finalise this for Subhadra once it was declared for Subhadra we saw such miraculous changes in its body that would perplex anybody the tree was originally red in a colour we collected a piece of its bark when we came first that is still with us you can see as the decision was finalised the tree turned yellow by itself as per the holy scriptures of our ancestors there should be several signs present in the tree but to be Subhadra it must have signs of either.
Her weapon or of the vagina but what happened was as soon as the tree got chosen as the one then Bhubaneswari(Subhadra) Herself descended on it lest we changed our mind and went back to the one near Kanasa village the Mother(Subhadra) appeared here through signs this is Her wish everything happens here as per Her wish now the fire ritual is being conducted with a thousand chants of Patala Nrusingha mantra it is about to get over Jai Jagannath
At the onset we went for the Sudarsana Daru Sudarsana Daru has reached Puri by now then Balabhadra Daru has left from Sarala He is now nearing Puri around 30-40 kms away from it today we are here coming from Subhadra Daru Her Daru was felled last night today they are making Chaupata(selected wood logs) it will leave in two or three days now we are at the site of Jagannath near Raghunathpur at Khari Padia village for Jagannath Daru you can notice signs of Jagannath on this tree this is the sign of the tusk of elephant lets go around come this side this is the Chakra from where that branch emerges there is an adage God is in the eyes of the devotee you can see Him only though a devotee's eye see that is the Chakra that circular mark rom where the branch is protruding please tell about the snake there is also a sign of the snake inside underneath the yellow silk covering you can see it when the Daru is uncovered the sign of a snake there are owls two or four of them hay have been inhabiting in this tree since the declaration we were given the responsibility to locate the Jagannath Daru when I first saw the tree
I had goosebumps I felt this is it and I embraced the tree I had seen so many trees but when I saw this one I felt this is Jagannath let us say you are relatives like two brothers when you meet after a long while what will you do? you will embrace each other surely For the first time on earth Brahma conducted a thousand rituals here thus the name of this mountain is Brahmadri this area was covered with Kantei (thorny) creepers name of this village is Kantilo Biswabasu was the Sabara (tribal) king of this area he would hunt every day for livelihood once while on his hunting expedition he reached the foothills of Brahmadri now the story of Nila Madhab will be presented hail! Maharaja Indradyumna Hail! Lord Nila Madhab Mahamantri(Prime Minister)
how does this youth know about Nila Madhab ask him to reveal explain young man how do you know about Lord Nila Madhab Mahamantri listen to Maharaj(King) in the last hours of the night I had a dream in the dream Lord Nila Madhab instructed me hey you young brahmin Bidyapati proceed without delay to the Utkala(Odisha) province in Utkala lies a cave called tiger's den Biswabasu Sabar is worshipping me secretly retrieve me from there bring me to the temple (in Puri) and consecrate me there your name would be etched in the annals of time Bidyapati was one of his ministers noble in the court of king Indradyumna he came to this region in the search of the God oh Prabhu Nila Madhab Father who calls out to our Lord? Sabar king had only one daughter Lalita Lalita was playing blind's buff with her friends in the village on the outskirt of the Sabar village while they were playing Bidyapati went past the same road while playing Lalita caught hold of Bidyapati she embraced him by mistake once the blindfold came off her friends said you touched an unknown man now you have to marry him my dear Lalita let me reveal to you my real intention of coming to Utkal Bidyapati was a very clever man he said please take me to Him in whatever means he didn't directly ask to show the path to Nila Madhab who could refuse a son-in-law so he (Biswabasu) agreed to take him but on one condition you will go blindfolded you can see the Lord once you reach there this way Bidyapati finally got to see Nila Madhab soon he returned to the Sabar village he stayed there for a while then said to Lalita that
I want to go back to my own country but the Lord did not appear to king Indradyumna He said you can't come with such pride flaunting your army you can't get me like that then Indradyumna had a dream you cant steal me in this way I will appear to you as Daru Brahma the place where Mahanadi river meets the sea it's called Banki Muhana three pieces of the log would come floating worship them as Jagannath Balabhadra and Subhadra in the Gundicha temple three Darus docked at Banki Muhana Indradyumna went there again with his soldiers the Darius didn't budge from there only with the help of Biswabasu could it move to Gundicha temple Biswabasu's family stayed as the Daitapatis even today Jagannath during His nine-day festival
He is carried only by the Daitapatis Puajapandas (brahmin priests) don't get that right without tradition there is no Daitapati without tradition one could carry on a truck why make a Sagadi(cart) to carry the Daru why spend so much time cut and take it in a day our new generation is watching how to make Chaupata the new generation is observing and managing it they are doing even better than us our generation was different and theirs is different new generation has a different model
This is a fact when they go out they need AC, cars etc but I see that not just Raja all young Daitapati who have come not only my son but all are sincere the way they have treaded and engaged it seems they are more attached to God than us definitely hundred per cent why because but the Lord did not appear to king IndradyumnaDaitapatis exist today because of a tradition as long as Jagannath exists Daitapatis would exist if Daitapatis are not there Jagannath is not there He are His brothers His kith and kin we are leaving Ganny what? I am going please bow to her before you leave Poetic rendition of love and longing for Jagannath those who are draped with a towel those are Daitapatis no one else we are the Biswakarma servitors we are the descendants of Devashilpi Biswakarma(God's Craftsmen)
My name is Ananta Maharana so is my clan name we can carve from the hardest wood because we have carved everything and not otherwise because we have been carpenters from eternity" saying this he was once travelling that was the time Jagannath Daru was waiting to be carved it was Biswakarma who carved it it the Devashilpi who came in the form of Bishwakarma in the disguise of an old man there is a manuscript called Indranilamani Purana parts of which details out idol making and Nabakalebara ritual those scrolls are preserved in the households of Badagrahi and some other Daitapatis based on that we conduct the Nabakalebara procedures such as searching for the Daru or making of the Idols directives for all such secret rituals is written in those scrolls but those scrolls are unpublishable my nephew he did repair work for his home thus had some cement leftover he has hands of an artist he made this idol I told him now that you have made this idol where will you keep it you could have made something else where are we going to keep it this is where the Daru tree was now they have installed an idol of Jagannath here
I feel like visiting Kalia (Jagannath) once we did so much for Him when He was here what to do we don't even have the money to visit him how can we go I couldn't eat for days
I have missed Him so much we have it in our hearts He is omniscient He would know that we want to visit Him this is the truth if we can't go the entitlement of Kadipadia village will sink let's see if during Ratha yatra if He could pull some strings please bow before Him prostrate here please kneel down here devotees believe that we go out looking for the God of their life force we go searching for Him we work on that basis of their belief God
also allocates us with that power only for that period of time no one will revere us any other point in time its because one of our ancestors had worshipped God in his house he fed Him with his own hands for the sake of that relationship with God for that good deed he accrued from it we are reaping his good deed till today once that phase(Nabakalebara) gets over we are just like any normal human beings that's how I feel I don't know how other would approach it the Lord has come from my front yard from Khari Padia village He has come from my home JAI JAGANNATH
