Post News Network
Jagatsinghpur/Balikuda/Tirtol: The Banajaga team which reached Kanakpur Tuesday evening, performed several rituals including consecration of the ground (Bhumi Shodhan) Wednesday morning.
A huge congregation of devotees thronged at Jhankada shrine to have the darshan of holy tree chosen for carving out Lord Balabhadra’s idol.
The Daita servitors performed Bhumi Sodhan rituals in order to exorcise the evil spirits from the tree and purify the place through incantation of hymns, sources said.
Nrusingha Mantra was recited 108 times near the Neem tree as part of the ‘Homa’ performance at the shrine of Sarala. Ritual ceremonials invoking deities Varuna, Mother God and Nrusingha were performed after lighting diyas.
According to Gajapati’s Rajguru Debi Prasad Rajguru, “The essence of ‘Homa’ was sprinkled around the Neem tree before Alati and Pushpanjali rituals were performed.” As many as 14 priests including Acharyas and Purohits performed Yajna and other rituals at the site.
Daita servitors washed the daru with 108 pitchers of water before offering clothes and flowers to it. The ‘Agyamala’ brought from Srimandir Tuesday was also offered to the Daru following which the Lenka servitors placed a replica of Chakra Narayana.
A Yajna will be performed at the spot after invoking Sun and Baruna Thursday morning. All rituals associated with the Yajna would be completed by sunset, said Rajguru.
Devi Subhadra’s Badagrahi Sibaprasad Das Mohapatra and envoy of Yuva Daitapatis Jayakrushna Das Mohapatra said, “Chopping of the Neem tree will commence once the sacrificial fire is lit at the Yajna place Friday.”
German lady fluent in Oriya
Several devotees assembled at the Jhankada shrine were taken aback by Khora Gyadel, a German woman and a researcher of Jagannath cult and Nabakalebara, who spoke Oriya, English and Hindi fluently. She was answering questions in all the three languages about her research. She repeatedly chanted the phrase ‘Jay Jagannath’ as an interlude between answers. Some devotees expressed the opinion that she might be a role model for Orissa’s people.
Police excesses:
Allegations flew thick and fast that police deployed at the shrine were manhandling some women devotees. Sources said a few elderly women were trying to have a darshan of Daru Wednesday afternoon when the police shoved them away in the name of one-way traffic and discipline. The devotees had to take a two kilometre roundabout to come back to the spot.
Photo biz:
Many including a minor boy were seen selling photographs of the Neem tree to the visitors to make a fast buck.
Lord for all:
Trilochan, a differently-abled person, a resident of Jajpur district, reached the spot after travelling a long distance to have darshan of the Daru of Lord Balabhadra. He sat near the barricade and broke down after the darshan. He shed tears of joy, indeed.
