Picture by Rashbehari Das

Eyes of Jagannath, face of Balabhadra and body of Subhadra, all rolled into one. For the last four centuries, people of Gud village in Soro have been worshipping this unique idol.

Sculpted out of stone, as against the traditionally wood-carved idol, this single statue having the features of the divine trinity is about three feet high and weighs over a quintal.

“We believe the idol has diverse identities. So, we worship it as Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra,” said temple priest Jayanta Panda.

On rath yatra, the idol is mounted on a chariot and carried from its abode to the Mausima temple.

“We observe the yatra for two days in which nearly 10,000 people participate,” he added.

Talking about the legend behind it, Karunakar Panda, a nonagenarian resident of the area, said that around 400 years ago, the stone idol in the form of Lord Balabhadra bearing the seven-cobra hood mark on its head was found floating in the village pond. A few youngsters from the village took it out of the water and fastened it to the trunk of a banyan tree with a rope.

However, the next morning, they found that it had mysteriously disappeared from the spot and was floating again in the same pond.

“Then a noble-hearted landlord, Nandikeswar Mangaraj, had a dream about it and placed the idol in the village temple and began worshipping it,” said Panda.

The old, dilapidated temple was later renovated. Here, all rituals of Lord Ananta Basudev, including jhulan yatra and chandan yatra, are followed as per Jagannath cult. But on rath yatra, devotees in and around Gud observe the annual chariot festival with great fanfare.

“The snana purnima rituals are the most unique and spectacular where the ceremonial bath of the deity is done with gallons of milk brought by the devotees,” said Sambhunath Panda, a member of the temple committee.

The local residents, however, rued that the temple is yet to receive due recognition.