The Jagannath triad are usually worshiped in the sanctum of the temple at Puri, but once during the month of Asadha (Rainy Season of Odisha, usually falling in month of June or July), they are brought out onto the Bada Danda (main street of Puri) and travel (3 km) to the Shri Gundicha Temple, in huge chariots (ratha), allowing the public to have darshana (Holy view). This festival is known as Rath Yatra, meaning the journey (yatra) of the chariots (ratha). The Rathas are huge wheeled wooden structures, which are built anew every year and are pulled by the devotees. The chariot for Jagannath is approximately 45 feet high and 35 feet square and takes about 2 months to construct. The artists and painters of Puri decorate the cars and paint flower petals and other designs on the wheels, the wood-carved charioteer and horses, and the inverted lotuses on the wall behind the throne. The Ratha-Yatra is also termed as the Shri Gundicha yatra.

There are many significant rituals performed during Ratha yatra.

Chhera Pahara


This the most significant ritual associated with the Ratha-Yatra. During the festival, the Gajapati King wears the outfit of a sweeper and sweeps all around the deities and chariots in the Chera Pahara (sweeping with water) ritual. The Gajapati King cleanses the road before the chariots with a gold-handled broom and sprinkles sandalwood water and powder with utmost devotion. As per the custom, although the Gajapati King has been considered the most exalted person in the Kalingan kingdom, he still renders the menial service to Jagannath. This ritual signified that under the lordship of Jagannath, there is no distinction between the powerful sovereign Gajapati King and the most humble devotee.

Chera pahara is held on two days, on the first day of the Ratha Yatra, when the deities are taken to garden house at Mausi Maa Temple and again on the last day of the festival, when the deities are ceremoniously brought back to the Shri Mandir.

Pahandi Bije


The deities are taken out from the Shri Mandir to the Chariots in Pahandi Bije.

In the Ratha Yatra, the three deities are taken from the Jagannath Temple in the chariots to the Gundicha Temple, where they stay for nine days. Thereafter, the deities again ride the chariots back to Shri Mandir in bahuda yatra. On the way back, the three chariots halt at the Mausi Maa Temple and the deities are offered Poda Pitha, a kind of baked cake which are generally consumed by the poor sections only.

Nabakalebar is all about transformation of Puri temple, Odisha lords into the new body. The new wooden idols of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, Goddess Subhadra and Sudarshan are welcoming to the temple with great celebration and it is a great occasion for Odisha people. The new idols are carved and old ones are cremated with rituals mentioned in the century old Odia scriptures.

Depend on the almanac positions of Hindu calendar the transformation or the Nabakalebar takes place once in every 12 to 19 years. Usually it is held in that year when the month of Ashadha is followed by another Ashadha. The previous Nabakalebars were taken place in the years like 1969, 1978 and 1996 and this year again all devotees are getting the opportunity to see changing form of lords.

From a religious point of view the temple management and priest have to identify the holy tree with a group of search team as prescribed in the temple records. They trace the trees with support of divine dream, then next they start their stopover at Kakatpur, the abode of Goddess Mangala. After that carving of the idols, transfer of Bramha from old to new idol and finally sacred burial of old bodies of Lords are the major rituals which are combinely named as the process of Nabakalebar.

Ritual Procedures

• The search party for the holy Margo (Neem) trees should be of 1 member of the Pati Mahapatra family, 20 Dayitapatis, 1 Lenka, 9 Maharanas, 16 Brahmanas, 3 Deulakaranas, 30 Police officers and 2 police inspectors.
• The search function will start after Lord Jagannath's blessings and after the midday meal offering to the deities.
• The procession starts from temple to near Puri Kings' palace to seek his permission.
• Then the procession continues to the gardens of the temple known as Jagannath-Ballabha then from there within two days the team prepares all their arrangements to start their journey towards Kakatpur.
• Because it is a belief that only Goddess Bimala or Mangala can only say about the exact location of the holy trees. It is auspicious to stay there before starting their search mission. The Dayitapati will get dream about the different locations of all four deities.
• It is true that on the exact location there should be so many Margo trees, but the team has to choose the specific marking and feature based symptoms on those trees.
• After getting the trees a great holy sacrifice is performed by inviting all the Gods and Goddess to give their blessings at that auspicious time.
• The auspicious time actually allows cutting procedure of the holy trees. The Pati Mahapatra will touch the trees with golden axe, the Dayitapati will touch it with a silver axe and the maharana family will touch it with iron axe. At the time of cutting the trees 108 names of God will be chanted.
• The tree logs will arrive to Puri temple through wooden cart secretively.
• Nobody is allowed to go to see the sculptures for 21 days. The carpenters close the main door and work whole day and night there.
• The ceremony will take place three days before the car festival. After buring the old deities the new deities are come in front of their devotees on the Rath Yatra.

Features of Holy Trees For Nabakalebar

Nabakalebar is the periodical replenishment of the wooden images of Lord, Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarshan that is happened in Puri temple of Odisha. The deities are going to change their bodies during leap month. So the procedure is like this, one lunar month of the Ashadha is followed by another lunar month of Ashadha. The Margo trees are selected every time for making deities. Any ordinary tree with extraordinary features can only become the body of the deity or Daru Bramha. The Darus should be different for each deity.

Lord Jagannath Daru features

• The holy tree must have 4 main branches.
• The bark of the Margo tree should be dark colored.
• The sign of Sankha and Chakra should be present in the tree.
• There should be a cremation ground near the tree.
• An out hill near the tree and a snake hole at the roots of the tree should be present.
• It should be that holy tree, which doesn’t have any birds' nest.
• The tree should be near the river or a pond or a crossing of the three ways or else to be surrounded by 3 mountains.
• The tree should not stand alone but be surrounded preferably with the trees of Varuna, Sahada, and Belva.
• There should be a temple dedicated to Shiva in the neighborhood.
• There should be some hermitage or monastery nearby.
• The holy tree should be free from Parasite plants and Creepers.

Lord Balabhadra Daru Features

• The holy tree must have Seven Branches.
• The skin of the tree must be light brown or white color.
• It should have a sign of plough and pestle etc.
• Nearby tree there should be a hermitage and also a graveyard.

Goddess Subhadra Daru Features

• The tree should have Seven Branches.
• The skin of the tree should be light brown or white color.
• It should have a sign of plough and pestle etc.
• Nearby tree there should be a hermitage and a graveyard.

Lord Sudarshan Daru Features

• The holy Margo tree should have three branches.
• The bark of the tree should be barkish.
• The tree should have a sign of Chakra with a small depression in the middle.

Sacred Time Of Nabakalebar

Nabakalebar is the festival of Transformation of Deities into new bodies from old bodies. Based on Hindu calendar calculation and date within every twelve to nineteen years this festival gets organized. On this occasion the wooden images of the deities are replace by new ones in the Puri Jagannath temple.

During full moons of two Ashadh months (June-July) this festival has taken place. In every three years a lunar month is excluded to balance in between lunar and solar years to calculate this Naba kalebar period. The specific month, which was excluded from the calculation known as Adhimasa or Mala masa due to be believed as most inauspicious period for any rituals and religious ceremonies is taken place to conduct this Naba kalebar festival. Inauspicious month for the sacred renewal ceremony is named as Purusottama Masa. 1863, 1893, 1931, 1950, 1969, 1978 and 1996 are the consecutive years within last 100 years for Nabakalebar ceremony. This time it is this year 2015, July 18th is the sacred date for Nabakalebar.

King Indradyumna was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu and was eager to meet him face to face. Once a brahmana came to the palace of the King Indrayumna and told him about an incarnation of Lord Vishnu named Nila Madhava. The king then sent different brahmanas out to search for Lord Nila Madhava. They all returned unsuccessful except a priest named Vidyapati. After traveling for a while Vidyapati came to an area inhabited by non-Aryans called sabaras. He stayed at the house of a local chief, called Visvavasu. When he arrived Visvavasu was not there, but his daughter Lalita was. Vidyapati stayed there for some time and eventually married Lalita, the daughter of the Sabara.

Vidyapati noticed some peculiar behaviour of his host. Visvavasu would go out every day around noon and would return back to the house scented with fragrances of sandalwood, camphor and musk. Vidyapati asked his wife about this and she informed him that his father would go daily to worship Nila Madhava. Lalita had been told by her father not to tell anyone about Nila Madhava, but she had overstepped that order by telling her husband. Vidyapati repeatedly requested to see Nila Madhava. Finally Visvavasu bound Vidyapati's eyes and took him to see Nila Madhava. Vidyapati secretly carried some mustard seeds in his cloth and he dropped them onto the path as he was walking. When he reached Nila Madhava, the blind fold was removed and Vidyapati saw Nila Madhava. Visvavasu went out to collect some forest flowers to worship and Vidyapati stayed near the Deity. During this time a crow fell off the branch of a tree into a nearby lake and drowned. It immediately took a four armed Vaikuntha form and started back to the spiritual world. Vidyapati then climbed up onto the tree and was about to jump into the lake. A voice came from the sky and said "Since you have seen Nila Madhava, you should inform King Indradyumna."

Visvavasu returned and started his daily worship of Nila Madhava. Suddenly the Lord spoke to him and said, "I have accepted for many days the simple forest flowers and roots offered to me by you. Now I desire the royal worship offered to me in devotion by King Indradyumna." Visvavasu felt cheated by his son-in-law; therefore, he bound him up and kept in his house. After repeatedly being requested by his daughter he let him go.

The brahmana then went to King Indradyumna and told him about his discovery. By following the mustard seeds, which had grown into small plants, they were able to follow the path to Nila Madhava. When they reached the spot, they could not find him. King Indradyumna had the village besieged and arrested Visvavasu. Suddenly a voice came from the sky, “Release this sabara. On top of Nila hill you should construct a temple. There I will manifest as Daru-brahman (the Absolute Truth manifested in a wooden form). You will not see me as Nila Madhava.

The King constructed a temple. The King wanted Lord Brahma to consecrate the temple. So he travelled to Brahmaloka and waited there for him. During this time the temple became covered by sand. While he was gone, first Suradeva and then Galamadhava became king of the area. King Galamadhava uncovered the temple from the sand. Shortly afterwards, King Indradyumna return from Brahma's abode. Indradyumna claimed that he had built the temple and Galamadhava also claimed the same thing. There was an old crow in the nearby banyan tree who was constantly singing the glories of Lord Rama. The crow had seen the construction of the temple and said that Indradyumna had built the temple and that Galamadhava had just uncovered it. Because he had not told the truth Galamadhava was ordered by Brahma to live outside the temple compound on the western side of Indradyumna Sarovara Lake.

Indradyumna then asked Lord Brahma to consecrate the temple and the surrounding area, which was called Sri Kshetra and gives the highest type of liberation. Lord Brahma told him that Sri Kshetra is manifested by the Supreme Lord's internal potency and that the Supreme Lord manifests Himself. Therefore he could not install the Lord here, but Lord Jagannath and his abode are eternally situated in the material world. He said he would install the flag on the temple and that anyone who sees this flag and offers prostrated obeisance would easily be liberated.

After a while King Indradyumna became frustrated with not seeing Nila Madhava. He decided to lie on a bed of Kusa grass and to fast until death. Lord Jagannath came to him in a dream and told him I shall come floating from the sea in my wooden form as Daru-brahman at the place called Bakimuhan.

The King went to this place and saw a huge piece of wood which had the marks of a conch, club, disc and lotus on it. Many men and elephants tried to move Daru-brahman, but they could not move Him. That night Lord Jagannatha spoke to Indradyumna in a dream and told him to bring Visvavasu, who used to serve Nila Madhava and bring a golden chariot in front of Daru-brahman. The king did this and Daru-brahman easily was placed onto the chariot.

Lord Brahma then performed a sacrifice and established a Deity of Narasimhadeva on the raised platform of the sacrifice arena. It is said that the Deity of Narasimha in the present temple compound, which is on the western side of the Mukti-Mandapa, is the original Narasimha Deity.

King Indradyumna had the best sculptors come to carve the Deity of Lord Jagannath from Daru-brahman. As soon as they started their chisels broke to pieces. The Supreme Lord Himself came in Disguise as an old artist who called Himself Ananta Maharana (According to the Narada Purana, Visvakarma, the architect of the demigods carved the Deities by the desire of Lord Vishnu, who took the form of an old brahmana). He said that if he was able to work behind closed doors for 21 days then the deities could be carved. The old sculptor then took Daru-brahman into the temple and the doors were closed. After 14 days passed, the king could not hear any sounds of the artist's tools and he became fully anxious. The king then personally opened the door of the temple by force.

The King did not see the sculptor, but instead he saw the three forms of Lord Jagannath, Subhadra and Lord Balarama. Their fingers and toes were unfinished. Thinking himself a great offender the king decided to give up his life. He then lay on a bed of Kusa grass and began to fast. Lord Jagannath appeared to him in a dream. He told the king that He is eternally situated here in Nilachala in the form of Lord Jagannath as Daru-brahman. In the material world, I descended in 24 Deity incarnations along with my abode. I have no material hands and feet, but with my transcendental senses I accept all the items offered by My devotees. The fact that you broke your promise is part of the pastime for me to manifest in the form of Jagannath. Those devotees whose eyes are smeared with the salve of love will always see Me as Syamasundara, holding a flute.

The King prayed to Lord Jagannath that those in the family of the sculptor who manifested your form will continue to assist in constructing the three carts. He also told him that the descendants of Visvavasu, who served Me as Nila Madhava, should generations after generations serve Me. They shall be called as dayitas. The descendants of Vidyapati born from his brahmana wife should perform the Deity worship to me. The descendants born from his sabari wife, Lalita, should cook My food. They shall be known as suyaras.

King Indradyumna then requested Lord Jagannath, that the doors of the temple should be closed only 3 hours a day. The King also requested that he would not have any descendants, so that no one in the future would claim the temple of Lord Jagannath as their own property.

It is said in the Narada Purana (Uttara Khanda 52.123), that the Supreme Lord Narayana told Lakshmi Devi: "In that great abode known as Purushottama-kshetra, which is rarely achieved among all the three worlds, the Kesava Deity, who was fashioned by the Supreme Lord Himself is situated. If men simply see that Deity, they will be easily able to come to My abode."

In Skanda-Purana (Utkala-khanda) it is mentioned that this most beautiful Sri Kshetra is spread over 10 yojanas (128km or 80 miles) and surrounded by sands. Utkala is another name of Orissa. Utkala is described in scriptures as the most holy place on this planet. Utkala is divided into four parts which represent the weapons of Lord Vishnu. These four kshetras are known as Sankha-kshetra (Puri town), Padma-kshetra (Konark), Cakra-kshetra (Bhubaneswar) and Gada-kshetra(Jajapura, where the Viraja Devi temple is). Within this area of 10 yojanas, Puri is known as Sankha-kshetra because its shape resembles a conch shell. This Puri-kshetra covers an area of 5 krosa, 3 of which are immersed under the ocean, and 2 on land. This land is covered with golden sands and deChorated with a blue mountain. The Lord Himself in His arca-vigraha form is residing here on the bank of the ocean atop the blue mountain. Sankha-kshetra spreads from east to west. Its head is towards west where Lokanatha Mahadeva resides.

Puri-dhama is known by different names: Purushottama-kshetra, Sri Kshetra, Nilachala-dhama, Jagannatha-dhama, Yamanika-tirtha, Martya Vaikuntha, Nilagiri, Sankha-kshetra, Dasa-avatara-kshetra and Narasimha-kshetra. Glories of Sri Purushottama-kshetra Jagannatha Puri Dhama are mentioned in different Puranas: Skanda Purana, Brahma Purana, Vamadeva Samhita, Kapila Samhita, Padma Purana and Niladri Purana.

Here are some of the amazing and interesting facts about the place:

1. The flag atop the temple always flaps in the opposite direction of air.

2. From any place in Puri you will always find the Sudarshan Charka (Charka at top of Temple) facing you.

3. Normally during day-time, air comes from sea to land & during evening, the vice-versa occurs. But in Puri it’s totally opposite.

4. No bird or planes fly above the temple.

5. The shadow of the main dome is invisible at any time of the day.

6. The quantity of cooked food inside the Temple remains same for the entire year. But that same quantity of prasadam can feed few thousand people & 20 lakh people, still it won’t get wasted.

7. In the Temple kitchen, 7 pots are kept one on top of another and cooked on firewood. In this process the contents in the top pot get cooked first & then the bottom one.

8. After entering from Singhadwara’s first step (from inside of the Temple), you cannot hear any sound produced by the ocean. But, when you cross the same step (from outside of the Temple) you can hear it. This can be noticed clearly during evening.

9. The Chariot Festival at Puri was initially performed with 2 sets of chariots (A total of 6 Chariots). As there was a river flowing thru in between Sri Mandira and Mausi maa temple, the first set of chariots were used to bring the lords till the river, then the lords had to ferry across the river in three giant wooden boats and aboard the other set of chariots till Mausi maa temple. Amazing but true.