Here is a chance for the lovers of Jagannath culture to engage in epic tales related to the Lord and rath yatra traditions through e-books. Digital versions of graphic novel series, Srijamyaham, revealing interesting stories and legends on the origin and evolution of the Puri temple and the Lord and His siblings have been recently released in Bhubaneswar.

The graphic novel is on the famous patta chitra style and is available on the Internet and various mobile book reading apps including Google Play Books and Daily Hunt. Along with the electronic version, paper books of the series are also available.

Brainchild of animator and film-maker Ranajit Mohanty, the series has been made available in four languages - Odia, Bengali, Hindi and English. During Nabakalebar last year, the first edition of the series was launched while the second edition and e-publication were inaugurated this year.

"These days, people prefer electronic reading and we have been getting requests from a number of people residing outside Odisha that they were not able to access the hard copies. So the online versions would help them. This move will also enhance the reach of the novels that would ultimate result in the Jagannath culture reaching more people," said Mohanty.

The plan is to release a 100 episode series that would include various tales and origin of the Nabakalebar, rath yatra and the temple rituals. They have already sold around 7,000 copies of the first volume.

"The first two series establishes the Lord Shree Krishna and Lord Shree Jagannath lineage, the mythology and fables stringed to it. The story of the Jagannath temple and how Indradyumna was instrumental in establishing the deities will be dealt with extensively in the first eight volumes," said Mohanty.

Mohanty added that the graphic novel would contain everything about the origin of the concept of the Brahma from the death of Lord Krishna in the Mahabharat and his tribal origin.

Issues such as the tales involving the followers of Lord Jagannath and on legendary devotees such as Dasia Bauri, Bhakta Salabega, Bandhu Mohanty and poet Jayadev's story of Geeta Govind will also be taken up in the series.

It will also feature the tales of Sriya Chandaluni, the famous devotee of Goddess Lakshmi and tales of the Kanchi abjiyan, in which Lord Jagannath and Lord Balabhadra went to war to help the ruler of ancient Kalinga win against the southern foes, will also be published in details.

"We have planned to start the graphic novel series in the initial stage and based on the popularity we would bring the magic on the silver screen later to have maximum impact," add the 42-year-old animator.

Plans are also on to publish Braille versions of the series for visually-impaired readers.

Mohanty, along with a team of 25 youngsters, are working on the series. The novel is being published by Pacad Comics. Along with the graphic novel, merchandise such as badges, toys, T-shirts, laptop skins and mobile guards themed on the Jagannath culture are also being released by the group.