Koraput: The Rath Yatra at Shabar Srikhetra, considered the second abode of Lord Jagannath in terms of popularity, bears a unique significance despite the festival being celebrated across the globe.
The festivity in Koraput, a town known for its natural grandeur, is celebrated with the union of various tribal cultures while a village head is given the honour of a king. The chief of Kumbha village performs the ‘Chhera Panhara’, unlike Puri and other places where kings perform the ritual.
Besides, the temple management committee officially invites people of all tribal villages of the district to take part in the festivity by sending them special betel nuts. Moreover, the collector felicitates the heads of all villages tying turbans on their heads on the occasion.
The Rath Yatra at Shabar Srikhetra is said to be the largest gathering of tribal people.
As per tradition, ‘prasad’ is not offered to the idols on chariots until tribals make offering of fruits which they raise in their yards.
Similarly, ‘Chhenapoda’ and ‘Pana’ are offered to the Trinity during Bahuda Yatra when the chariot stops midway for a while.
Though idols are worshipped according to rituals of Puri Srimandir, a distinct deviation is observed with regards to chariots. At Shabar Srikhetra, the Trinity and Sudarshan are enthroned on a single chariot instead of three.
History of Shabar Srikhetra: The idea of setting up a Jagannath temple had taken root in 1969 during a deliberation at Panchayat Bhawan here. Some local thinkers along with a few top district officials who were present on the occasion presented a concept to set up a temple, said Jagabandhu Samal, a founder member of Shabar Srikhetra, and secretary of the temple managing committee, who was also present at the programme.
Koraput is located at about 3,000 feet above sea level whereas the temple was set up atop Kurma Shaila, a hill in the heart of the town. The present temple replaced a small dome-shaped monument made from empty bitumen containers.
Interestingly, the idols of the temple were constructed with the surplus wood during Nabakalebar in 1969 at Puri. Padmashree Pandit Sadashiv Rathasharma consecrated the idols in 1972 and since then it has been known as Shabar Srikhetra.
Then collector Bhaskar Chandra Patnaik performed the ‘Bhumi Puja’ July 11, 1973 for the construction of the main temple of Shabar Srikhetra. While sculptor Satyabadi Maharana began the construction the same year, it got completed in June 1978. The four idols were taken to the main temple and were consecrated following a three-day-long festival attended by Gajapati Divyasingha Deb. At that time thousands of tribal devotees attended the festival and vowed to contribute towards the growth of Shabar Srikhetra. Later, the temples of other deities were constructed to attract more devotees.
While Shabareswar Temple, a shrine dedicated to lord Shiva, was set up in 1982, the shrines of other deities were constructed in 1988 around the main temple. The Gajapati again attended the consecration of temples dedicated to Hanuman, Ganesh, Sun, Laxmi Nrusingha, Bimala, Saraswati, Lalitambike, Parna Shabari, Mahalaxmi and Nabagraha between February 25 and 29 in 1988.
Similar to Srimandir, the temple here also has a Dola Mandap, a Snana Mandap and Garuda Stambha. Besides, devotees can have darshan of the presiding deities of prominent pilgrim sites like Amarnath, Kedarnath, Vaishno Devi, Badrinath, Dwarikanath, Gayatri, Mahakaleswar, Somnath, Pashupatinath and Rameswar as replicas of these shrines have been set up next to Shabareswar Temple.
A separate temple ‘Yuge Yuge Jagannath’ is situated on the way of Trutiya Bedha (premises of third temple) where several legends of Lord Jagannath are on display. Trutiya Bedha comprises several presiding deities of the state including Siddha Mahavir, Sarala, Gupeteswar, Katak Chandi, Tarini, Mangala and others.
Other attractions of the site which draws sizeable footfalls all through the year consists of a statue of a large fist which symbolizes harmony among all religions, Champakashram, tribal culture research centre, temple of Matarabnam, the presiding deity of Sauras and Akhyar Brahma.
Amenities for devotees: The temple committee has set up an Atithi Niwas, an Atithi Bhawan, a Yatri Niwas, a Yatri Kutir and other guesthouses to provide boarding facilities to tourists. Safe drinking water facility, proper sanitation system and arrangements for security of visitors’ properties have also been put in place by the committee. The Ananda Bazaar provides Prasad to the devotees throughout the year. PNN