Servitors of Puri temple carry Lord’s traditional sringar items. Picture by Sarat Patra

Bhubaneswar, June 29: Like every year, musk or “kasturi”, an aromatic substance extracted from the navel of the Himalayan deer, would be one of the many ingredients used for the mukh sringar (facial make-up) of lord Jagannath during his Nabjauban Darshan rituals ahead of rath yatra.

However, few people seem to be aware that the once abundant stock of musk in the 12th century Puri Jagannath temple is depleting with each passing year as the supply from Nepal has stopped completely. Nabjauban Darshan, which is also known as Netra Utsav, will be held tomorrow. Thousands of visitors throng the temple to witness the ceremony.

“We are managing with the musk received from other donors. But we are also in touch with Nepal,” said the temple’s public relations officer, Laxmidhar Pujapanda, adding that the existing stock would take care of this year’s requirements.

Apart from Nabjauban Darshan rituals, musk would be also used for the mukh sringar of the deities during Hera Panchami. A necessary beauty aid of the divinities, Kasturi comes in handy at the time of gupta seva (secret service) during the Ansar rituals when the deities are taken sick ahead of the car festival.

Kasturi is supposed to be applied to them for mukh sringar every Wednesday, but over the years it has become a monthly ritual, perhaps a reflection on the scarcity of the aromatic material, which once came in abundance from Nepal when the royals, who were great devotees of the lord, ruled the country.

Musk deer or kasturi mrig, the only source of musk, which is also believed to have medicinal uses, is found in the Himalayan region, including Nepal. The supply from the Himalayan kingdom choked following the decline of monarchy.

Temple sources said the last official supply of musk from the kings of Nepal was in 1999. Unofficial, however, it came once again sometime during 2002-03 through someone claiming to be the representative of the Nepal royals.

Since then there has been no supply of musk from the Nepal kings who used to provide it to the temple as their “seva” (offering). Sources said during the 80s king Birendra and queen Aiswarya had visited the shrine with a huge stock of musk but the temple cannot look forward to such generosity from the royals of the neighbouring country any more.

Occasionally, the temple also gets musk through donations like it did in 2006-07 when a visiting monk brought a few pods with him.

Last year, too, some musk is believed to have been received from a donor. But this is too little compared to the supply in the past.

Pujapanda said musk was used during the facials, along with camphor and asafoetida (hing) as these helped keep the wooden images insect-free.

So, the rituals also have a scientific base apart from having religious significance.

The biggest stumbling block to procuring musk is that its purchase is supposed to be illegal as the musk deer from which it is obtained is protected under wildlife laws both in India and Nepal. Sources said that faced with a crunch at a later stage the temple may have to think in terms of an alternative.