Odisha Nabakalebara: Devotees throng sites of Subhadra, Jagannath daru as Balabhadra daru makes way to Puri

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Adhangagada/ Bhubaneswar/ Kharipadia, May 2:

The whole of Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district is agog with spiritual fervor as devotees are making a beeline for Adhangagada and Kharipadia, the places where the darus of Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath are located respectively.

Huge crowds of devotees have gathered at Adhangagada, the site where the neem tree assigned as the daru of Devi Subhadra in located, as the time for purnaahuti at the mahayagna is getting closer. The tree will be felled after the completion of the purnaahuti ritual.

Stotriya Brahmins are chanting Patala Narasimha and other mantras and are offering oblations to the sacred fire of the mahayagna while Daitapati sevayats are chanting the same mantra and other mantras at the Sabarapalli (the camp where the Daitapatis are camping).

“The felling of the tree will begin after completion of a secret ritual at its base by Daitapati servitors. The secret ritual would start on completion of purnaahuti and puspanjali at the mahayagna – the ritual that on completion will transform it to mahadaru, the timber out of which the earthly body of the Devi Subhadra will be carved, to be later infused with the brahma of the Devi. Purnaahuti is expected to be complete around 3.30 PM,” said Ramakrushna Das Mohapatra, president Daitapati Nijog.

On completion of the secret ritual at the base of the tree by Daitapatis, Vidyapati of the Banajaga team will touch it with a golden axe to be followed by Biswabasu with a silver axe. Later, Biswakarma (carpenter servitors) will cut the tree with iron axes, he added.

Once the tree falls to the ground, the Daitapatis, stotriya Brahmins and others in the Banajaga team, who are on a nirjala (without water) fast since ankuraropan, will break their fast by drinking panna and later have havisyanna (a specially cooked vegetarian meal) for their dinner, Das Mohapatra said.

Chief Secretary G C Pati and chief administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Suresh Chandra Mohapatra visited Adhangagada to have a darshan (glimpse) of the daru of Devi Subhadra yesterday evening. The chief secretary expressed his satisfaction at the arrangements made at the site and thanked the SJTA, district administration and locals for their cooperation.

“The arrangements are really very nice. The ambience here is totally different. I had been to the site of Lord Sudarshan’s daru; now I have come to have a darshan of Devi Subhadra’s daru. I thank all, the SJTA, the district administration and locals for the arrangements and their cooperation,” said Pati.

Meanwhile, the sagadi carrying the daru of Lord Balabhadra from Kanakpur to Puri reached the Jagannath temple at Pandra on the outskirts of the capital city past midnight. The sagadi and its team members are taking rest and would again commence their journey towards Puri at dusk.

The entire stretch from Cuttack to Bhubaneswar on either side of the highway was lined up with devotees to welcome the sagadi, which had halted at a High School premises at Bhanpur village on Friday night, made its way through the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar highway today.

While some were seen sprinkling flowers, others were found spraying water on the road. There were others who laid sarees and decorated the road with rangoli. The sound of conch shells, ululation, beats of mridangas, cymbals, chants of Haribol etc added to the spiritual flavor. The devotees were overwhelmed at the darshan of the daru of Lord Balabhadra.

The situation at Kharipadia, the site where Lord Jagannath’s daru has been identified is no different as devotees are converging at the place for the darshan of the grand daru, while the administration is busy building infrastructure like Sabarapalli and yagna mandap at the site.