NABAKALEBARA SPL

Asit Mohanty & Sibkumar Das ‘Swapnabati Mantra’ is perhaps the most discussed subject in the whole process of Nabakalebara rituals. It is believed that the chanting of this mantra provides clues to the ‘Daitapati’ servitor members of…

Asit Mohanty & Sibkumar Das For ages, the traditional art and craft forms of Odisha have been integral parts of the Sri Jagannath culture. One of them is ‘Gitagovinda Khandua,’ an exquisite piece of work woven by master Odia weavers.…

Asit Mohanty & Sibkumar Das Cyclical phenomena are integral to the existence of the universe as well as our life; be it our life cycle or cycles of nature like water cycle or carbon cycle. This is represented as ‘chakra’ in Indian…

Asit Mohanty & Sibkumar Das The importance of plants in this world is depicted at the very start of the Nabakalebara rituals. Plants are also living entities like humans. But humans usually fail to accept plants as equal entities of…

Asit Mohanty & Sibkumar Das ‘Agyaanmaala’ marks the beginning of the elaborate and intricate Nabakalebara rituals of Sri Jagannath. This again is a compound word. In his book ‘Sridarubrahmanka Agyaanmaala Rahasya, senior servitor of…

Asit Mohanty & Sibkumar Das Puranas as well as historians indicate that in its most ancient form, the idol of Sri Jagannath was not made of ‘daru’ (wood). Myths and stories of puranas say worship of Sri Jagannath as Nilamadhav by…

Asit Mohanty & Sibkumar Das To understand the metaphorical and spiritual concepts enshrined in the Nabakalebara rituals, we have to delve deep into the word ‘kalebara’. The word commonly denotes body. But the choice of this word to…

Asit Mohanty & Sibkumar Das ‘Kalebara’ or body is the key word. The prefix ‘naba’, meaning new, has been added to it to coin the term ‘Nabakalebara’. Indian scriptures describe ‘kalebara’ as ‘agamapayi’ or that which manifests and…

-TEAM OST Asit Mohanty & Sibkumar Das Although a religious ritual, the Nabakalebara of Sri Jagannath is a unique phenomenon. It can be termed a depiction of the essence of the Indian philosophy or ‘Sanatana…