Kansa of dhanu yatra pays a visit to Jagannath temple in Puri on Monday to seek the lord’s forgiveness for being a tyrant. Picture by Sarat Patra

Bhubaneswar, Jan. 28: Hrushikesh Bhoi was known, revered and most of all, feared by all as the mythical tyrant Kansa for the past 11 days.

As the uncle of Lord Krishna during the Bargarh dhanu yatra that concluded yesterday, Bhoi felt he offended the lord and humans too. So, the actor paid a visit to Puri to be cleansed of the “sins” he had committed during the yatra.

Bhoi first took a bath in the Puri sea to be rid of his bad deeds as Kansa and then proceeded to meet and seek forgiveness from religious leader Nischalananda Saraswati, the Puri Shankaracharya.

“I come here every year after the play concludes with Kansa’s death to seek forgiveness for having acted as a cruel ruler. After taking a bath in the holy waters of the Puri sea, I visited Shankaracharyaji today and begged forgiveness from all mankind for having been rude and inhuman as well as an offender of Lord Krishna. Though I felt better after this meeting, I had to meet Lord Jagannath to purify my heart,” said Bhoi.

The Shankaracharya was moved to see the honesty and devotion of Bhoi and gladly blessed the actor.

“He only enacted as Kansa but the motive was to spread awareness about goodness. Yet he is so humble to ask forgiveness from the lord. He is a blessed soul,” said the spiritual guru.

When he went to the temple later to pray before Lord Jagannath, Bhoi was transformed into a passionate devotee leaving behind all the fame and dominance of Kansa, which he had converted himself into till Sunday.

“Lord Jagannath is the deity of my soul and I wanted him to know I was only enacting the part of a tyrant sincerely since it is my duty to make dhanu yatra a successful endeavour. But within myself, I was detached from the bows and praises I was getting for being Kansa. I am a believer in goodness and want to tell everyone that good always prevails over evil,” said Bhoi.

He had begun his enactment in Puri during the last edition of dhanu yatra. During the performance as Kansa, like every year, this year too Bhoi won acclaim and appreciation from politicians and art lovers.