Puri,
May 22: The sacred logs for making the new idol of Lord Jagannath
reached the 12th century temple here today.
Nearly
one lakh people congregated here to witness the carts carrying the scared neem
logs. The procession, which took the shape of a mini car festival, had begun
from Kharipadia village in Jagatsinghpur district on May 14.
Devotees
jostled with each other to get a glimpse of the daru (tree in
Odia) and even tried to touch the rope that pulled the cart. The volunteers
sprinkled water to keep the devotees cool. Women also turned up in large
numbers.
With
this the first phase of the Nabakalebar yatra, which had started 55 days back
on March 29, came to an end.
Chief
servitor of Lord Jagannath sevayat Jagannath Swain Mohapatra said: "We
have been able to perform our duty properly."
The
journey to locate the scared trees for making the idols of the deities began
with sevayats leaving their homes on March 29. Two days later they began their
journey to Kakatpur, about 65km from Puri, on foot to seek the blessings of its
presiding deity, Goddess Mangala.
The
first neem tree for Lord Sudarshan, considered as the weapon of Lord Jagannath,
was spotted at Gadakuntunia village on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. The other
trees for making the idols of Lord Balabahdra and Goddess Subhadra were found
at Kanakpur and Adanga in Jagatsinghpur district. All the logs were brought to
Puri on carts pulled by the devotees. The entire stretch connecting
Jagatsinghpur to Puri drew huge crowds.
The
next important part of the Nabakalabar yatra is the change of soul of the
deities that will take place on June 15, before the car festival on July 18. On
that night, a particular group of servitors will perform the ritual. The old
idols of the gods and goddess will be buried in the Koeli Baikuntha on the
temple premises the same night.
President
of the Sevayat Niyog Ramakurshana Dasmohapatra said: "We are really
overwhelmed in the way the people have showered their love on us. With the
blessings of Lord Jagannath, the entire Nabakalebara yatra would pass off
peacefully."
However,
the contentious issue of touching the Lord during the rath yatra has again
snowballed into a major issue. Earlier, the temple administration had
prohibited the devotees from touching the deities during the rath yatra.
Now the
temple administration has decided not to allow the devotees to touch the
deities on the Snana Purima on June 2, when deities would be taken out of the
sanctum sanctorum and placed on a "pandal" in the premises of the
temple. The idols will be given a bath with 108 pots of scared water.
Temple
chief administrator Suresh Mohapatra said: "There is a high court order on
this issue. We, hope, everyone will cooperate in abiding by it."
The
sevayats have threatened to oppose the decision of the temple administration.
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