Chief servitor of Puri’s Jagannath temple, Bhabani Shankar Mohapatra, dressed as Nanda, during Nanda Utsav in Puri. Pictures by Sarat Patra

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 1: Devotees as well as servitors at the Jagannath temple in Puri are celebrating the birth of Lord Krishna.

Like every year, they have begun the Lord’s birth ceremony, an old tradition. Interesting chronicles from the deity’s life are enacted every day outside and on the temple premises. The enactment began on Friday.

On the first day, Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra adorned the banabhoji besa, in which limbs were attached to the idols, who also carried silver bowls, curd, butter and a stick just like cow herders.

Chief temple servitor Bhabani Shankar Mohapatra, more commonly known as Bhitachhu Mohapatra, dressed up as Nandaraj, the father of Lord Krishna.

“I put on a false beard and clothes similar to those worn during ancient times. First, I visited the king’s palace to inform that the act was beginning. Then I took a seat in the mandap on the temple premises when some other servitors came and announced that a baby boy had been born. They escorted me to the idol of baby Krishna we had installed in the temple for Janmashtami,” said Mohapatra, who was portraying Nanda for the second time.

He, along with other servitors, sang Aa mo Nanda kula Govinda and carried the idol to a cradle near the Mahalaxmi shrine. The Balaram and Krishna idols were then offered fresh milk of a cow, which had given birth for the first time.

“This is the only time in the year that a cow enters the temple,” said Mohapatra.

Every day, a chosen servitor of the temple or a resident plays a character from the stories of Krishna’s adventures. The dressed-up artiste then goes inside the temple where the performance begins.

“Most of the episodes are performed inside the temple. But, during the Kalia dalana, when the Lord is believed to have won over the tyrant snake king, the representative deity of Lord Jagannath is carried to the Narendra pond where other characters arrive and the performance takes place,” said Surya Narayan Rathsharma, an expert on Jagannath temple rituals.

He said the ritual of showcasing the Krishna leela or adventures of Krishna is ancient. “It has been there since centuries just like many other rituals,” he said.

“I feel blessed to play Nandaraj. It is one of the services I perform for the Lord and it is very close to my heart,” said Mohapatra.

He said the various enactments would continue every day and the rituals would conclude with the death of Kansa or Kansa badha on September 4.