Puri feast cancelled

Bhubaneswar, June 20: The community feast in Puri for 1.5 lakh devotees to be organised on June 27 to mark the 13th day of the burial of the old idols of Lord Jagannath and His siblings has been cancelled. This is apparently the fallout of the differences among the servitors following the delay in soul transfer of the deities in the temple. Instead, the temple administration would feed only a limited number of devotees, and that too, on the temple premises, instead of organising it in front the main gate of the shrine as planned earlier. According to an announcement made by the temple administration on June 12, the community feast was scheduled to be organised by the servitors' association (Daitapati Niyog) in front of the temple with Mahaprasad (cooked food of the Lord) to be fed to the people. The temple administration had also announced to lend its support to the programme and appealed the devotees to donate money for the cause. However, following differences among the servitors in the wake of soul transfer of the deities and with political parties targeting the government, the association backed out of the plan. President of the Daitapati Niyog Association Rama Krushna Das Mohapatra said: "There will be no community feast. It will be organised only for a limited number of people on the temple premises." Though Das Mohapatra cited bad weather as the reason for cancelling the feast, a senior servitor, on the conditions of anonymity, said: "As our differences had snowballed into a major issue following the delay in transfer of souls, the temple administration decided not to support the programme. As a result, the association has no option but to back out of the programme." However, the temple administration, which is facing the heat following its failure to do the rituals on time, has so far refrained from making any announcement in this regard. Public relations officer of the temple Laxmidhara Pujapanda said: "I have no information so far." Chief administrator of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration Suresh Chandra Mohapatra today met law minister Arun Sahu and briefed him about the problems that had led to the delay in the transfer of souls. After the meeting, Mohapatra said: "We have already served notices to the servitors. Any servitor wishing to record his statement could do so in person or in writing. Their testimonies will be kept secret." At Puri, the second co-ordination committee on the car festival was organised under the chairmanship of revenue divisional commissioner (central division), today. The meeting witnessed heated exchanges among servitors over the issue of soul transfer http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150621/jsp/frontpage/story_26932.jsp#.VYdMY1Lt3d4 .

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Nabakalebar Festival: Eminent sand artist documents secret ritual 'Brahma Paribartan'

Documenting the most important ritual of the Nabakalaber festival – 'Brahma Paribartan' (defined as changing of souls) – eminent sand artist Manas Sahoo has made a sand animation video on the secret ritual.

During the ritual observance, Bramhas or souls of all four deities of Puri Shreemandir are changed by replacing the old idols in the sanctum sanctorum. The 5 minute 25 second video elaborates the ceremonies in clear details.

Sahoo has described how Moharana (carpenter) connects with Lord Jagannath through his art. He also shows how the servants of Lord Jagannath replace the old idols stealthily during the wee hours after conclusion of Mahayagya inside the Shreemandir.

http://www.iamin.in/en/bhubaneswar/news/nabakalebar-festival-eminent-sand-artist-documents-secret-ritual-brahma-paribartan-62557

Sri Krishna Janmashtami at ISKCON Bangalore

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Notice to Badagrahis of Jagannath Puri Temple

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Carpenters carve a wooden horse to be fixed to one of the chariots
PURI: The Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has issued notices to four Badagrahi Daitapatis, who were entrusted the responsibility of ‘Brahma Parivartan’ (transfer of Brahmas from the old idols to the new ones) to explain the reasons behind the delay. The ritual, which should have been completed late on Monday night, was completed on Tuesday noon.

Despite the claims of the Daitapatis and the SJTA, the rituals were delayed by several hours hurting the religious sentiments of lakhs of devotees. People from all walks of life have demanded stringent action against the erring Daitapatis.

The 10 Biswakarmas (traditional temple carpenters) engaged in carving the idols of the four deities from four Darus (Neem logs) in the Koilibaikuntha have also been asked to explain the delay. Bijay Mahapatra and Krusha Maharana, senior Biswakarmas who were heading the team of carpenters, had on Wednesday said that they could not finish their work on time which also caused delay. “Some Daitapatis frequently interfered in the carving work and kept changing the logs time and again. We had intimated the Chief Administrator of SJTA about it but he did precious little for smooth conduct of the work,” Mahapatra told this paper.

Earlier in the day, Badagrahi Daitapati, one of the four Badagrahis entrusted to perform ‘Brahma Parivartan’, had given a written statement to the SJTA narrating the cause behind the delay and held two Daitapatis, who are members of the ruling party, responsible. Haldar told mediapersons that he along with three other Badagrahis was obstructed by a section of Daitas who demanded that they along with a senior Daitapati be allowed to remain present in the sanctum sanctorum during the ritual. “This delayed the ritual by four hours and Brahma Parivartan was completed by Tuesday noon,” said Haldar, who was the head of the Banajaga Yatra team. When the four of them refused to entertain the demand, they were allegedly roughed up, he said.

Meanwhile, expressing resentment over the delay, Shankaracharya of Gobardhan Peeth Swami Nischalananda Saraswati has asked the State Government and the SJTA to refrain from all activities of the Jagannath temple. “The sevayatas and the SJTA appointed by the State Government are entirely responsible for the violation of Nabakalebara norms and break in the 1000-year-old practice,” he said. On the other hand, Maheswar Mohanty, the chairperson of Nabakalebara Infrastructure Development Committee, expressed shock over the delay in the rituals and said appropriate action should be taken against those found guilty.

Puri Gajapati Shocked

Puri Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb, chairman of the temple managing body, said like other devotees he too was shocked by the ‘bibhrata’ (major disturbance) in performing the most important Nabakalebara ritual of the Trinity and Sudarshan. He said this reflects the extent to which the temple affairs have deteriorated. “The servitors did not even spare Lord Jagannath,” he remarked.  He decried promoting political vote bank in the temple by the political parties. The Gajapati said Lord Jagannath is for everyone and service to the Lord should not be done under political consideration.
http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/Notice-to-Badagrahis-of-Puri-Temple/2015/06/19/article2874722.ece

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Nabakalebar: Soul transfer delay turns controversial

Bhubaneswar, | 18 June, 2015

The inordinate delay in completion of the ‘brahma parivartan’ (transfer of soul from the old idols to the newly made ones) at Puri Jagannath Temple on Wednesday has snowballed in to a major controversy with sections of servitors blaming each other and political parties hurling accusations against the government and the temple administration.

Facing a volley of accusations, the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration chief, Suresh Mohapatra, IAS, said he will hold a review meeting and verify facts to ascertain the cause of the inordinate delay in ‘brahma parivartan’. The ritual, the most important one during Nabakalebara, was scheduled to be completed on Monday, but it continued till late on Tuesday afternoon allegedly due a tussle between two groups of servitors, delay in making of the new idols again because of conflicting directions given to thethe new idols again because of conflicting directions given to the carpenters by servitors etc.

With allegations of the tradition and other aspects being violated doing the rounds on Wednesday, the entire issue gathered steam as the mismanagement of the temple administration and servitors spilled over to the streets. Many devotees and old timers felt that the age old tradition of completing the ritual at night had been violated. Leader of Opposition and Congress leader Narasingha Mishra blamed the government and recalled that the last time Nabakalebara was held, the then chief minister J B Patnaik used to visit Puri regularly and discuss with all sections of the servitors and the Nabakalebara of the deities went off without a hitch.

How many times has Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik interacted with the servitors and others involved in the entire festival, he asked while chiding that the CM was entirely dependent on bureaucratic briefing and review meetings. The Sankaracharya of Puri, Swami Nischilananda Saraswati has also expressed his dismay over the delay.

The Puri seer had lambasted the ‘encroachment of the bureaucracy in matters relating to the temple and rituals’. He had implicitly attacked the Sri Jagannath Temple Administrator, Suresh Mahapatra, IAS, without naming him and had said that no bureaucrat would ever dare to do what was being done without the blessings of his political masters. State BJP legislature party leader Mr Basant Panda demanded action against those responsible for having delayed the ritual and hurt sentiments of lakhs of devotees.

It is unpardonable, the first thing that the bureaucratic administration had done was to incur the wrath of the Puri Sankaracharya by trying to undermine him, charged Panda. Ruling BJD spokespersons said the government had nothing to do with the rituals, saying the delay has to be looked into by temple administration

Read more at http://www.thestatesman.com/news/odisha/soul-transfer-delay-turns-controversial/69996.html#BAjigFg39sp1aPWK.99

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Deities at Jagannath temple in Puri replaced after 19 years in elaborate ceremony

Thousands of devotees at the Jagannath temple in Puri. (Source: Express photo)

Written by Debabrata Mohanty | Puri |  June 17, 2015 

The four deities in the 12th century Jagannath temple in Puri were replaced on Tuesday with new ones after 19 years with four temple servitors infusing life into them, marking the end of the two and half month old process of Nabakalebara festival.

“The events since last night is most significant part of the Nabakalebara, during which the soul of the Lord was transferred,” said chief servitor of the temple, Gajapati Maharaj Dibyasingh Dev, who participated in some parts of ritual last night inside the temple. The Nabakalebara (re-embodiment) of the fours deities, replacing the old idols with new ones – is an elaborate process in which they relinquish their old bodies and assume a new one.

The Nabakalebara is observed in a gap of 12 to 19 years. The last time Nabakalebara happened in 1996. The Nabakalebara process started on March 29 with the servitor starting their journey for the search of neem trees from which the idols were carved. This time, the neem trees were found in Jagatsinghpur and Khurda districts.

Four Badagrahis (body protector-cum-servitors) transferred soul from the old idols into the new idols of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, Goddess Subhadra and Lord Sudarshan made from neem wood this afternoon after an elaborate ritual that started last night. Though it was supposed to happen at night under cover of darkness, the process was inordinately delayed as the carved idols could not be made ready before midnight. Since last night the temple was shut for everyone except 100-odd servitors who took part in the process till the gates opened at 5.20 pm.

“It was an emotional moment for us,” said Jagannath Swain Mohapatra, one of the four servitors who transferred the Brahmapadartha(soul) from the old idol to the new. “It was a very difficult task to do as we had to bid goodbye to the old idols.” Mohapatra did the ritual for Lord Jagannath.

During the transfer of the soul, eyes and hands of the servitors were covered with cloth-bands so that they can’t touch and see the Brahmapadarthas at the time of their transfer. The old idols were buried in Koilibaikuntha (also known as the graveyard of the deities) area of the temple premises. Like post-death rituals in Hindu households, the servitors who took part in last night’s event, would get tonsured after 10 days and mourn the death of old idols. “It’s unparallelled anywhere in the world,” said the Gajapati Maharaj.

Since last night, thousands of devotees lined the Grand Road leading to the temple, lighting wick lamps.

The new idols would be open to public view on July 18, the day of Rath Yatra. Though the idols were supposed to be open for public viewing on July 17 on the day of Nabajouban besha, this time the temple administration decided against it.

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See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/deities-at-jagannath-temple-in-puri-replaced-after-19-years/99/#sthash.f8yxTeI6.dpuf

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Nabakalebar of Siddha Jagannath in Keonjhar is being held after 1,000 years

Keonjhar: Nabakalebar of Siddha Jagannath in Keonjhar is being held for the first time after 1,000 years. The wooden idol of the deity was worshipped since its installation and there was no custom of Nabakalebar in the temple. But during the last few years, it was observed that the idol was getting damaged and after approval of Puri Mukti Mandap and the Debottar authorities, it was decided to change the idol during the Nabakaleber ceremony to be held at Puri.
Accordingly, Daitapatis of the Keonjhar temple searched for the Daru (wood of the sacred tree) to be used for the shaping of new Sidha Jagganath idol a week back. Moving through different parts of the district, finally the sacred neem tree was discovered at Bankapatuli village. After conducting pujas and rituals, the tree was cut and the log was brought to the temple at Sidhamath on Thursday in a religious procession. Sub Collector cum Executive Officer Debottar, SDPO, members of Pahandia committee, local devotees and public joined the Daru procession till it reached the temple. Ratha Maharana and wood carving artists have been entrusted to start new idol carving inside the temple premises.

- See more at: http://orissadiary.com/Keonjhar/ShowDistrictNews.asp?id=59702#sthash.p0ArgKbe.dpuf 

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Jagannath Temple idols to be replaced

BHUBANESWAR, June 16, 2015

Servitors in the 12th Century Shri Jagannath Temple in Puri will replace old idols deities with new ones on late night of Monday – a vital ritual of Nabakalebara festival, which is being celebrated after a gap of 19 years.

The secretive ritual to be performed by four servitors of temple would mark infusing life into new idols and old idols will be given burial on campus of temple. All these would be carried out in complete darkness.

Wooden idols of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Sudarshan were last changed in 1996. Special worships were organised in the temple on Monday evening. Although nobody will be allowed to see the rituals, thousands of devotees thronged the holy town of Puri to stay vigil.

Carpenters have already created new idols of four deities from holy Neem trees collected from Jagatsinghpur and Khurda districts.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/jagannath-temple-idols-to-be-replaced/article7319703.ece

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