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| Sulakhyana Gitanjali Devi. Picture by Gopal Krishna Reddy |
In Dharakote of Ganjam district, devotees pull the chariots of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra a day after Sri Gundicha. But, the car festival here catches the attention of the state and elsewhere because the 15-year-old queen of the former Dharakote estate performs the chhera pahanra (symbolic sweeping) of the chariot.
Sulakhyana Gitanjali Devi, scion of the royal family, was crowned the symbolic queen of Dharakote in 2010 after the death of her father, King Kishore Chandra Singh Deo. She studies in Raj Kumar College in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
“This is the third time that I am performing the rath yatra rituals as Raja Saheba. I don’t feel shy about performing services for God at a public place. I am proud of being able to perform the rituals for Lord Jagannath. I am carrying on the family tradition. My father and forefathers had performed these services before me,” she said.
Trinath Panda, bada panda (main priest) of the temple, said: “We consider her as the king of Dharakote. So, there is nothing wrong in her performing the rituals. Her devotion towards the lord is praiseworthy. The mukti mandap — altar of the high priests — at the Sri Jagannath temple in Puri had declared her right to do so.”
On Sri Gundicha day, Panda said, the pahandi of the three deities is performed and the devotees pull the single chariot the next day.
“Raja Saheba also participated in the pahandi today (Thursday) following the rituals. She sweeps the surface of the chariot later. But the actual chhera panhara would be held on June 30 when Raja Saheba would move to the rath in a silver palanquin from the royal palace and perform chhera panhara in the chariot,” Panda said.
Nandini Devi, mother of Raja Saheba Sulakhyana Gitanjali Devi, said it was their tradition to observe bahuda on Bada Ekadasi.
Jaya Singh built the temple of Lord Jagannath in Dharakote during his rule from 1732 to 1758 and the rath yatra began here then.
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