Young servitors share a light moment during rath yatra in Puri. Telegraph picture

They have their own goals in life but serving the Lord tops their list. Here are the next generation daitapatis (servitors) and puja pandas (priests). “We have to carry forward the traditions of the Jagannath temple,” said 13-year-old Abhishek Padhiari, a Class VII student of a school in Puri.

Abhishek, who is the son of a priest at the 12th century shrine, was dressed up like other senior servitors to perform rituals during the rath yatra. He wants to become “either an engineer, or a tennis player such as Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer”. “But no matter whatever I do or wherever I stay, I will continue to serve the Lord at least during the rath yatra,” he said.

Like Abhishek, Class X student, Debasish Das Mahapatra also has similar plans. His father is a daitapati (servitor).

“Since my childhood, I have seen my parents performing the rituals of Lord Jagannath. I have actively participated in all the rituals during rath yatra. This is the time when we get to miss school and regular studies and devote our entire time in various temple activities associated with Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra,” he said, as 11-year-old Ramakrushna Pratihari nodded in agreement.

Besides skipping classes, rath yatra gives the kids an opportunity to earn good amount of money. Chintamani Das, a 13-year-old, said: “I earn Rs 700 to Rs 1,000 a day during the car festival. However, we do not force the devotees to donate money. They contribute money voluntarily out of their devotion for Lord Jagannath.”

Seventy-year-old senior servitor Jagannath Das Mohapatra said all the servitors know that if they miss out on participating in rath yatra, they would be deprived of their rights of performing seva for the rest of their lives.