Raisuan: The annual Car festival of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra is held wherever there is a Jagannath temple, be it outside Odisha or abroad.
The one in Raisuan, in Keonjhar district, is no different. Here there is a different story to tell before beginning of the car festival.
According to Akhandal Sharan Panda, the founder of the car festival, when he was 13-years- old one a night, he saw an old man in dazzling white carrying an axe in his dream. He saw the old man is calling him. Suddenly he woke up in utter fear. He screamed and asked his friend, who was sleeping beside him, to look for someone who was standing with an axe. His friend could not see anyone.
The next night, he again dreamt about a ‘neem tree’. He saw the tree standing erect with four branches spreading from its trunk, with no nest of birds and a cobra residing at its root in his dream.
Next morning he and his friend set out in search of that particular type of tree. But they failed to find any such tree with the typical symbols. Next night again he dreamt that the kind of ‘neem tree’ is at Tangaratali village.
Next day in the morning they started for the village and after reaching he narrated all about his dream to the villagers. Though they refused to buy the story, later they searched for the tree, and to their utter surprise the tree with all the symbols were found.
The tree was worshipped and cut down. Idols of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra were carved out.
Since then, the car festival here is being held till now.
