Priyaranjan Swain
post news network
JHANKADA (Kanakpur): The identification of a Neem tree near the shrine of Goddess Sarala at Jhankada (Kanakpur) in Jagatsinghpur district, for use as Lord Balabhadra’s holy log (daru), is described as nothing short of a miracle by the locals. Priests and servitors of Sarala temple as well as the locals see this as a divine act of the Goddess.
Ma Sarala, they aver, has nurtured the Neem tree and protected it from natural calamities including cyclones for the past many years.
According to the locals and priests of Sarala temple, the Neem tree identified for Balabhadra’s ‘daru’ is at least 90 years old. The tree miraculously withstood three cyclonic storms including the super cyclone of 1999 that ravaged the entire Jagatsinghpur district. “The storm and floods had uprooted almost all the big trees in Jhankada, but this tree survived the odds. We see it as nothing less than a miracle of Goddess Sarala, worshipped as mother of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra,” they say.
“Goddess Sarala has been protecting this tree for years. Some four or five years ago, the tree had shed all its leaves, and we thought it was about to be extinct, but it survived,” said Pramod Kumar Panda, priest at the Sarala temple, that is just 100feet from the tree. In fact, the temple shares a special relationship with the Puri Srimandir. The temple has, behind it, a blend of Vaishnavite and Shaivite cultures. The goddess is offered both Tulsi and Bel leaves. The Mahaprasad of Lord Jagannath is a regular offering to the goddess. “Besides, there are a few special occasions when Goddess Sarala has a Jagannath besa (incarnation),” said locals Debabrata Mohanty and Pradipta Kumar Biswal.
There was a dream too, to stress the tree’s ‘holy’ credentials. “The chief priest of Sarala temple had a dream recently wherein Goddess Sarala appeared and told him the Neem tree near the temple will be selected as the holy log for making a Puri Srimandir idol. The Sarala temple administration started worshiping the tree ahead of its formal identification by the Daita servitors of the Srimandir,” priests Ashok Roul and Sachidananda Nayak told Orissa POST.
There existed a concrete pandal around the tree that has now been removed. A team of Daita servitors who arrived for the identification noticed the presence of all the divine symbols required for Lord Balabhadra’s daru on the Neem tree’s trunk. Locals say there were a ‘Sahada’ tree and an anthill near the tree a few years ago. Moreover, on occasions, cobras had been cited atop the tree.
Some locals are drawing a parallel between the writing of Oriya Bilanka Ramayan and Mahabharat by Adikabi Sarala Das, a resident of Jhankada, centuries back and the recent identification of Balabhadra daru. “Adikabi Sarala Das, whose original name was Siddheswar Parida, a farmer by profession, had written Oriya Bilanka Ramayan and Mahabharat after he got the blessings of Devi Sarala. Now, due to the blessings, the Neem tree of Jhankada has been selected for Balabhadra’s daru. This is a moment of pride for every resident of Jagatsinghpur,” said Sriballav Nayak, a priest and Rabi Narayan Acharya, a researcher on Sarala culture.
Sarala temple chief priest Pragyandipta Panda said his father the late Bhagirathi Panda, a former chief priest, had once predicted that the Neem tree adjacent to the temple will be used as the holy log for one of the Srimandir deity. “The super cyclone of 1999 had inflicted severe damage to Jagatsinghpur. Thousands of people lost their lives, lakhs of domestic animals perished and the district lost a majority of its grownup trees. After 16 years, this Neem tree from Jagatsinghpur has been selected for Lord Balabhadra’s daru. This is due to the blessings of the goddess, we believe. The whole episode has vindicated the Hindu philosophy, which has it that a ‘destruction is followed by creation’,” Panda averred.
