PURI:The Banajaga Yatra, the beginning of the Nabakalebara ritual to make new idols of Lord Jagannath and his siblings, began here on Sunday with the launch of the search for Daru (the sacred wood from neem trees for the idols).
Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb, who is the first servitor of Lord Jagannath, gave the go-ahead for the Banajaga expedition. The Banajaga Yatra is the expedition for search of wood from neem trees for carving out new idols of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra as well as Sudarshan. The last Nabakalebara took place in 1996.
The chief servitors of the four deities were handed over ‘ajnamalas’ (permission of the deities) by the temple priests.
Pati Mahapatra, one of the seniormost temple servitors, decorated the four deities with traditional ‘Sarees.’
The ‘daitapatis’ came out of the temple at about 7.20 pm in a ceremonial procession of flag-bearers. They marched towards the Jagannath Ballav Mutt where they would stay for 36 hours. On their way, the ‘daitapatis’ were handed over Sankalp Gua (betel nut) by Rajguru of Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb as a symbol of entrustment for the religious rite.
Jagannath Ballav Mutt has been spruced up to house 130 ‘daitapatis’ and their support staff. A newly built podium in the mutt was inaugurated by local legislator Maheswar Mohanty on Sunday.
The Jagannath Ballav Mutt authorities, led by its chief Bhaktacharan Das and Jagannath Bastia, received the Banajaga team. They would be provided ‘Mahaprasad’ for dinner. On Tuesday midnight, the Banajaga team would leave for Deuli Mutt at Kakatpur. Elaborate security arrangements have been made by the police. District Magistrate Arabind Agarwal, SP Asish Kumar Singh and Sri Jagannath Temple’s Chief Administrator Suresh Chandra Mahapatra and their staff were present.
The Chief Administrator said the location of ‘Daru’ would be announced one by one. First for Sudarshan, followed by Devi Subhadra, Lord Balabhadra and in the end for Lord Jagannath. He urged the Banajaga team not to disclose the locations of ‘Daru’ before they submit their report to the temple administration.