Bijay Kumar Mohapatra, who heads the carpenters’ team working on the Nandighosha rath of Lord Jagannath, feels constructing the chariot is neither a responsibility nor a task, but an opportunity to express his love for the Lord.

But, that is not all that Mohapatra offers to the Lord. He is an ace singer, trained in Hindustani and Odissi genres and performs every evening at the temple, other than the period of rath construction.

Hailing from the Biswakarma sebayat family, Mohapatra was trained in the nuances of chariot construction since he was a kid.

“When I was given the charge of heading the team about a decade ago, I used to get nervous about completing the work on time keeping the chariot being technically perfect. Though I was a part of the carpenters’ team earlier, I had initially taken it as a responsibility when I became the chief. But, over the years, I have found out that the work goes on perfectly as it is destined to. Believe it or not, the divine circle of energy is always present among us when we work day and night. We do not feel like it is a job. We just do it like we are on earth to do just this - it’s just like breathing, sleeping or eating,” said Mohapatra.

He and some members of the team, just like other chief carpenters of the two other chariots, accompany the Holy Trinity as the chariots roll during rath yatra, so that they can provide instant help if required.

Mohapatra’s voice is another blessing the chief carpenter has. An approved artiste of All India Radio, Cuttack, he started singing and performing from the age of seven. But it was only in his late teens that he got the chance to learn music. He loves performing chhanda and champu on ancient compositions in praise of Lord Jagannath at Marjana mandap outside the sanctum in the temple. And he has been doing this since 1991.

“My favourite composers are Salabega, Banamali, Dinakrushna. I ensure that the language is pronounced purely. The Jagannath bhajan albums today are spoiling the meaning of words by mispronouncing them,” he said.

When he is not performing at the temple or constructing the chariot, Mohapatra teaches music at a private school in the city and records radio serials.