Millions of devotees, who experience the subtle presence of Lord Jagannath in his blissful abode at Puri, crave for a speck of dust from the stairs having a set of 22 steps, called Baishi Pahacha, for its sheer holiness.
The spectacular proceedings of the car festival right from the perambulation of deities, known as pahandi, down the stairs of Baishi Pahacha, aired on television channels, captivate the devotees across the globe.
Baishi Pahacha connects Srimandir’s Singhadwar to the second gate inside the temple. Legends have it that the ancient shrine was built by King Bhanudev, although the exact time of its construction is not discernible from available historical or Puranic texts.
Steps on exterior
Speaking to Orissa POST, Surendra Kumar Mishra, an authority on temple heritage, said, “The term ‘Baishi Pahacha’ draws its nomenclature from ‘Bahistha Pahacha’ or steps on the exterior. There is no Scriptural reference to the stairs. But the devout who throng the shrine attach great sentimental value to Baishi Pahacha as the Holy Trinity – Lord Jagannath, Devi Subhadra and Lord Balabhadra – alight the steps to reach their chariots during the festival. The servitors also take the deities back into the shrine on the stairs during Niladribije ritual.”
“Traditionally, Baishi Pahacha is considered one of the most sacred structures of Srimandir as it gets the touch of the deities and their representatives during their exit from and entry into Srimandir,” he suggests.
There was a time when the devout disposed themselves on either side of Baishi Pahacha to relish Mahaprasad with religious fervour. Mishra quoted a 500-year-old devotional lyric, Thakaa mana chaala jiba, chakaa nayana dekhibaa; Baishi Pahache bikaa heuchi Kaibalya bikaa, to substantiate his contention that poets had sung innumerable paeans to glorify the virtues of Baishi Pahacha.
Yama Shila
Detailing about Yama Shila, the third of the 22 steps, Mishra said every devotee aspires to step over it while climbing up the stairs. It is believed that a pilgrim who steps over Yama Shila will escape Yama’s punishment for worldly sins. However, the pilgrims are advised against touching the stone while alighting from the Baishi Pahacha as that would take away the virtues acquired from the darshan of the deities.
Pitru shila
A coarse granite stone on the seventh step is called Preta shila or Pitru shila. The devout also offer Anna Mahaprasad on it with the hope that the offering feeds ancestral souls. This, it is believed, would liberate the spirit of the dead.
According to another interesting tradition, deities, souls of demi-gods and those of ancestors such as Chitragupta descend upon the Baishi Pahacha ahead of the pahandi procession at Rath Yatra.
22 Tirthankaras
Believers in Jainism assume that the 22 steps at Puri temple symbolically represent 22 Tirthankaras. A few others are of the view that the steps signify 22 negative human attributes which saints and Vaishnavas have conquered through penance and meditation over a period of 22 years.
Ratan Pradhan
