Sudarsan Maharana
Bhubaneswar, April 29: A sea of devotees thronged Kharipadia village under Raghunathpur block in Jagatsinghpur district Wednesday for a glimpse of the holy Neem daru of Lord Jagannath, that has been identified by the Banajaga Dalapati.
The location of the daru was formally announced by the Chief Administrator of the Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Suresh Mohapatra Wednesday morning. He told the media,“An announcement regarding Lord Jagannath’s daru is hereby made. SJTA has received a letter to this effect from the Banajaga Dalapati Haladhara Dasmohapatra, which said the identification of daru for the Lord Jagannath idol has been done late at night Tuesday.”
He said, “I along with senior police officers reached Kharipadia village early this morning.”
SJTA had appealed to devotees to avoid going near the daru on the first day, Wednesday, as the barricading work was in progress. A huge crowd had thronged the place after news spread.
Mohapatra said, “Elaborate security arrangements are being made for protection of the daru as also for the safety and security of the devotees. The tree is located at a narrow place and heavy rainfall Tuesday night led to water-logging in the area. The district administration requires at least a day to complete the barricading work to ensure a hassle-free darshan of the holy tree.”
Four to five bulldozers have been engaged to level the area, said Jagatsinghpur collector Satya Kumar Mallick. IG, Central Range, RP Koche, said six platoons of police force have been deployed in the area, and more forces would reach there soon.
The Neem tree fulfills the following requirements to be selected as Lord Jagannath’s daru: It must be very old, the colour of its bark should be black, the tree must have the sign of sankha (conch) and chakra (wheel) on it, there should be a termite mound near the tree with snakes, and it must not have any birds’ nest. This was stated by the Badagrahi of Lord Jagannath, Jagannath Swain Mohapatra.
Interestingly, this is the third daru found from the district selected for the grand Nabakalebar of the Trinity commencing July 18.
