Bhubaneswar, April 17: All roads today led to Kanakpur village, about 85km from here, in Jagatsinghpur district, where the sacred neem tree to make the idol of Lord Balabhadra was found.

Thousands of devotees queued up outside the temple of Goddess Sarala for a glimpse of the tree and got a chance to pay homage to the deity, who patronises learning.

Shree Jagannath temple chief administrator Suresh Chandra Mohapatra said: "We made the announcement about the tree after the leader of the servitors had given us in writing about its location last night. Once the rituals for cutting the tree for Lord Sudarshan's idol are over at Gadakuntania village, the servitors will reach Kanakpur."

Servitors' dalapati (team leader) Haladhar Das Mohapatra said: "The tree has all the necessary symbols. According to the instruction of Goddess Mangala of Kakatpur, we traced the daru (sacred tree) of Lord Balabhadra. After completing the rituals at Gadakuntunia village, the servitors will head for Kanakpur. Then we will start the rituals to cut the tree."

The servitors had left Puri on March 30 to find the sacred wood for the making of the new idols of Lord Jagannath and His siblings.

Director-general of police Sanjeev Marik said: "Adequate police arrangements have been made to provide protection to the wood. We will take steps to ensure order among the visitors. Five to six platoons of police will always be at the spot."

The villagers of Kanakpur are elated, as the servitors have selected the neem tree located outside the Goddess's temple. "I have been seeing the tree since childhood. I never thought it would once be used for the making of Lord Balabhadra's idol," said Sarada Mohanty, 75, a retired government employee.

Bishua Raul, a servitor of the Sarala temple, said: "This tree had also been shortlisted for the making of the holy idols in 1996. We missed it by a whisker back then. Now, it's time for us to celebrate."

In another development, servitors today began the process of cutting the neem tree at Gadakuntania village for making Lord Sudarshan' idol. Local residents thronged the temple to see the rituals. Once it falls, the timber will be carted to Puri.

A Puri temple official said the trees for the making Goddess Subhadra and Lord Jagannath's idols would be announced later.