Cobra disrupts felling of tree for Jagannath’s chariot in Odisha capital

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, May 3:

Residents of Bhakta Madhu Nagar in the Odisha capital had an unusual visitor on Saturday. Though the guest landed in the area uninvited, the people of the colony paid obeisance to him before bidding him good-bye.

A group of around 70 people from the locality had embarked on a journey from the Jagamara Jagannath temple to the nearby Bhakta Madhu Nagar to cut a tree to be used for making of chariots for the upcoming Car festival in July.

As the axing of the tree began, the woodcutter inadvertently hit a young cobra coiled near the trunk of the designated tree. The serpent, which sustained minor injury, demonstrated its fury by standing up and showing its venomous fangs creating a flutter among the crowd.

Emotions ran high after people saw the king cobra of approximately 3.5 feet, which they believed was guarding the tree to be felled for construction of chariots.

The size of the crowd swelled as soon as the news spread to the nearby areas. People thronged to the site to witness the cobra which they believed had divine attributes.

The people paid their reverence to the injured visitor till he was provided with medical attention. Ramesh Mohanty, one of the visitors, applied medicines on the dreaded animal and set him free to retreat into the wild.

“After the puja of Lord Nursingha was over, the servitors along with other people started their journey to begin the wood cutting ritual at Bhakta Madhu Nagar after receiving the agyanmala. A tree of 6-feet girth and 30-feet height was identified for construction of Lord Jagannath’s chariot. This unusual event occurred just at the beginning of felling of the tree. The rituals resumed after the snake was given a safe exit,” Jagamara Jagannath Temple coordination committee’s managing trustee Ajay Kumar Patnaik said.