JAGATSINGHPUR: A group of 14 Banajagis, escorting the ‘Daru’ for Devi Subhadra, embarked on the journey to Puri from the Nilakantheswar temple in Adhanga village here on Wednesday evening.
The cart was pulled towards the Cuttack-Paradip State Highway by devotees and the 14 Banajagis at around 5.49 pm. Five platoons of police force are accompanying the Banajaga Yatra team.
In the night, the Banajagis stayed at a temple in Ramkumarpur village of Cuttack district.
This week, Daitapatis performed secret rituals on the ‘Daru’ and Biswakarmas (carpenters) prepared the Sagadi, from Banyan, Tendu and Tamarind wood. The ‘Daru’ was resized to ‘Chaupata’, a rectangular solid block made out of the holy Neem tree trunk, and wrapped with seven layers of silk cloth.
The wood block was then fastened to the Sagadi with ropes made of ‘Basunga Pata’ prepared by Patera Bisoyi servitors.
The Sabarapalli camp where Daitapatis and Swotriya Brahmins had put up and the Yajna Mandap near the Nilakantheswar temple wore a deserted look after the departure of the Banajagis.
While one group of servitors went with the Daru, the rest left for Kharipadia village in the district late in the evening.
President of Daitapati Niyog Ramkrushna Dasmohapatra said the ‘ajnamala’ (go ahead) of Lord Jagannath arrived at Kharipadia from the Jagannath temple in Puri.
Rituals like ‘Ankuraropan’ and ‘Daru Sodhan’ at the tree selected for Lord Jagannath’s idol will be performed on Thursday, which will be followed by Mahayajna and ‘Purna Ahuti’. After this, ‘Daru Chhedana’ would begin on Sunday.