The Deuli Mutt and one of the idols (below) . Telegraph pictures

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 24: Criminals have looted idols and some manuscripts from the Deuli Mutt at Kakatpur, around 60km from here, ahead of the Nabakalebar festival (change of idols of the Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri), scheduled to begin from early next year.

The mutt plays a key role in the process leading to the change of the idols — Lord Jagannath, Goddess Subhadra and Lord Balabhadra. It is at this mutt, the servitors and others observe penance till they receive divine signals, which help them identify the sacred trees used for making the idols.

The theft took place last night. Today morning, the priest in charge of the mutt, Mitu Ranjan Dixit, noticed that the idols of Goddess Lakshmi and Garuda were missing. The criminals have also taken away some ancient manuscripts. A case has been registered with Kakatpur police.

Daitapati Niyog president Ramakrushna Das Mohapatra, one of the servitors’ group associated with the rituals of the temple and the change of idols, said: “Before the Nabakalebar event begins, we go the Kakatpur Goddess Mangala Temple and perform the required rituals there. We stay at the Deuli mutt and perform the associated rituals. We stay there till we get a divine direction from the deity on which direction we should move to identify the sacred trees for the idols. Without the mutt, the process cannot be performed. It is an integral part of the Nabakalebar process.”

The new idols (marking transfer of soul) are placed at a gap of eight, 11 or 19 years, depending on lunar calendar. The last festival was held in 1996.

Reminiscing his past experience of the last Nabakalebar held in 1996, Das Mohapatra said the group of servitors had spent nearly 45 days.

In 1977, the group of servitors had to stay at the mutt for nearly a month.

The Daitapati Niyog also threatened that it would go on an agitation if necessary steps are not taken to rescue the idols “We use to perform puja before Goddess Lakshmi during the stay at Deuli. It is the most sacrosanct place for us.”

Gop College principal Yagenswar Dixit, who is also a servitor in the local Mangala temple, told The Telegraph: “The mutt is a part of the Emar Mutt in Puri. It is more than 500 years old. But, as the local administration has not taken take any step to preserve the mutt, most of its land have been encroached on and left dilapidated. Only during the Nabakalebar, the administration swings into action and do very little for the mutt’s preservation.”

Chairman of the Nabakalebar Infrastructure Supervision Committee and former law minister Maheswar Mohanty said: “It’s a serious matter. If anything wrong happens, it will have serious implications on the ongoing Nabakalebar process. I will take up the case with the police and the higher authorities to rescue the idols.”

Local police station in-charge Srikant Padhi said: “We are making our best efforts to recover the idols and nab the criminals.”