Nabakalebara
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Jagannath temple, Puri, Odisha
The Times of India, Jul 18 2015
G S Tripathi
The Renewal Of Deities
The Lord of the Universe, Jagannath, along with his siblings, Devi Subhadra and Lord Balabhadra, embark on the first journey with their new forms. In the Bhagwad Gita, Krishna says: “Just as a man, abandoning his old and worn-out clothes, takes other new ones, so does the soul which abandons its old body and takes a new one.“ He further says that those who are born have to die one day and those who die, it is certain, would be reborn.Coming to Lord Jagannath, He follows these principles Himself to show that the cycle of birth and death applies to Him as well. It is the essence of Nabakalebara, the New Form of Lord Jagannath. In this process, the body changes but not the soul. The soul is transferred from one body to another.In case of humans and other beings, the action is done by God, but in the case of God, this is done by man, in a show of reciprocity! The process of Nabakalebara starts with the searching of wood with divine marks for making the idols.The priests and other servitors pray for divine guidance. In earlier events, these ceremonies went almost unnoticed. But today there is live telecast of unprecedented magnitude which adds to the spiritual and festive fervour. What is the science behind this change of idols? Jagannath and his siblings are the only gods who are taken from the main temple every year for an annual journey of 10 days. In the process, the deities are subject to extreme forms of physical stress. Their bodies are made of sacred wood called `Daaru'. Since wood is matter that is not indestructible, it is subject to material laws. Wood can withstand tension because of the presence of cellulose fibres, strong under tension, in a matrix of lignin that resists compression. Thus both tension and compression are taken care of. Because of periodic events, like the Rath Yatra, Snana Purnima (bathing ceremony) and other daily and occasional rituals, the material bodies of the deities may weaken and disintegrate and the Nabakalebara ceremony prevents that from happening. Jagannath takes a new body when two Asadha months in the Hindu calendar fall in a year. In some regions, the month is calculated according to the Sun's motion in different constellations. In other regions, it is counted according to the moon's rotations, from one full moon day to another or from one new moon day to another.Sometimes the month has a shorter duration than the usual 30 days. Thus, over a period, the surplus days form an extra month. Two Asadha months happen once in 12 to 19 years. In 2015, there are two Asadha months; hence Jagannath and siblings take new wooden bodies.
The most important step in this transitional process is the transfer of `Brahmn' from the old idol to the new. It is the most mysterious part of the ceremony . Nobody knows as to what actually is transferred. It is a secret ritual.
Rath Yatra is a people's festival where people gather in large numbers to witness an event on a particular day that is grand in every respect. The Lord is Bada Thakura. The temple is Bada Deula. The road is Bada Danda.The chariots, too, are grand the Juggernauts. The food offered to the Lords is Maha Prasad. The festival is grand, hence the impact of all these things is also grand on devotees. JAI JAGANNATH.
