AT LORD’S SERVICE: Jagannath Swain Mohapatra

Puri, July 17: Sixty one-year-old daitapati Jagannath Swain Mohapatra, fondly called Jaguni, is believed to be a descendant of the legendary tribal king and first worshipper of Lord Jagannath, Biswabasu.

One of Puri’s most popular faces, Jaguni is only a matriculate, but has acquired knowledge about the Jagannath cult through experience. He claims the deity hears his voice and answers all his prayers.

Jaguni, who has pledged to serve Lord Jagannath till his last breath, joins other daitapatis to serve the Lord exclusively for one month during rath yatra.

Besides serving at the temple, Jaguni’s other source of income is his cloth shop in Puri. His two sons are, however, well educated and employed. But they make it a point to turn up at the temple during rath yatra to perform various rituals.

Jaguni desires to be an active participant during the 2015 Nabakalebara (changing of the bigraha or idol) of Lord Jagannath.

“It’s my good fortune that I am serving the Lord of the world. A servant and devotee cannot ask for more. I consider myself blessed to have come in close touch with the great deity and to become aware of his spiritual greatness and powers,” he says.

Jaguni speaks to The Telegraph on how he feels as the rituals to mark the end of rath yatra begin tomorrow:

Lord Jagannath and his siblings will return to the main temple from the Sri Gundicha temple tomorrow in what is known as bahuda yatra.

Though the Lord will finally make an entry to the temple on Sunday after suna besha, a sense of melancholy has begun to grip us — the daitapatis — as we will have to wait for another year to serve Him from such close quarters.

We are the kin of Lord Jagannath. He has given us every thing and we don’t have any complaint regarding that. Whatever the Lord has given us, is enough for us to make ends meet. A strange feeling permeates us during this period as all our actions are guided by the Lord.

Tears roll down my cheeks when I recall the events of rath yatra this year. Many pilgrims fainted as they stood in the scorching heat to see the Lord come out of the temple and board the chariots on Bada Danda or the Grand Road.

When the Lord stepped out of the temple, clouds appeared from nowhere and the skies opened up for nearly 30 minutes. Thus a cool atmosphere descended on the place. Those who had experienced it could only realise the importance of this jianta thakura (living deity).

The rath yatra begins with the debasnana purnima. On that day, the Lord leaves His inner chamber and heads for the snana mandap to give a darshan to the people. After bathing with 108 earthen pots of water, the God falls sick and we serve the Lord by giving Him medicine.

The entire process is like a human being falling sick and recuperating from the disease again. Whenever someone in your family falls sick, a sense of grief grips the entire family.

We really experience a similar feeling on those days. Believe it or not, those who are a product of the 21st century will not be able to reailse what we experience.

For the entire month of the rath yatra, we maintain a life of austerity, celibacy and discipline. We eat plain rice and dal once a day and take the Lord’s bhog at night.

Our daily routine changes on these days. We do not know when we will go to bed at night, but one thing is for sure —we must reach Sri Gundica temple at 5am. At 61, I am able to do it because of His blessings.

Whatever we earn on the chariots and in the temple is divided among the daitapatis (nearly 200 families.) As the Lord is our brother, the first share of the earning goes to Him. Have you ever seen such a religious culture anywhere?

When the Lord comes out of the temple to board the chariot, we are filled with a sense of pride. When He sits on the chariot, we all feel as if the head of the family is there to share “ananda” (bliss) with us. It is a feeling that can’t be described or shared.

Also difficult to describe is the feeling when the Lord is seated on the chariots bedecked with gold ornaments. We also wear our jewellery during the rath yatra as we are part of His family. Not even for a moment did the thought of being robbed cross our mind.

I always pray before the God that He should destroy any bit of self-pride and arrogance that resides in me. However, by the Lord’s grace, everyone loves me. Whoever comes to me, whether he is Narendra Modi or anyone else, to me he is a devotee who has come to seek the blessings of Lord Jagananth. I pray for all.

The moment the Lord enters the temple, he takes away the “spirit” from the body. We feel desperate and return to the mortal world. We go back home and start leading our normal life. I remain busy with my cloth store. Whenever my devotees come from any part of the world, I take them to the temple for a darshan of the Lord.

The Lord, like all human beings, falls sick and takes a rebirth. The Nabakalebara will be held in 2015. I am now preparing myself for the change of idols during the Nabakalebara ceremony. I will shift the “Brahma” or life from the present idols of the deities to the new ones. The Lord should give me strength to live till that day.