Sadasiv Das and Minakshi Das

Sadasiv Das, 67, and wife Minakshi Das, 59, are in the city of Sarnia on the US-Canada border to be with their son, daughter-in-law and grandson. Away from their home near Bhubaneswar, the elderly couple finds the digital television network a perfect link to stay updated with the latest on the Trinity’s grand sojourn in Puri

The US might have become the only country outside India to have maximum number of cities to come under the ambit of rath yatra celebrations, but with the call from the native at Nilachal Dham of Puri still echoing in our traditional hearts, the digital television channels have become the mainstay to be in touch with our roots.

For me, the cult of Lord Jagannath has transformed into a greater consciousness. With the philosophy of the Brahma or the soul of the universe represented through universal brotherhood and unity in diversity, here in the US, perhaps, the consciousness has percolated to the maximum level than any other country outside India, with so many professionals living around from as many diverse ethnic communities.

With reports on lakhs of devotees visiting the temple for Navajaubana darshan and subsequently, the live telecast over a half a dozen available Odia digital TV channels, we are feeling as if we are at home here.

We are enjoying our time at home as the TV has kept us glued to the festival in Puri. Listening to the live telecast from the veteran broadcasters and commentators of the programme which started early in the evening and continued till late in the night, as the local time here is 9.5 hours late than the Indian Standard Time (IST), has helped us feel the energy back home.

Our native village Bhadaro near Charichak was home to the Ray Chudamani dynasty where 75 per cent residents are Bengalis and rest are Odia Vaishnavite families. Each home has a Radha-Krishna deity and during Holi, 15 different local deities riding their palanquin (vimana) come to the common meeting ground called melana padia, which is very popular in the locality.

Two puja pandals are built in the village during Dussehra every year. It is probably the only one of its kind in the entire state because there is a ritual of past-midnight Kalika darshan in the intervening night of Nabami and Bijaya Dashami.

Ask any priest at the Kakatapur Mangala temple and he will tell you that the deity in their temple was established by the Ray Chudamani dynasty of Bhadaro. Legend has it that directions for Nabakalebara rituals for the chief priest (bada panda) of the Sri Jagannath temple also comes from Maa Mangala temple of Kakatpur.

On the Niali-Charichak road near Kalapanchana Square, we have a mutt that is being maintained by our families for generations. On the opposite side of this road is the village Madhaba where you have the famous Madhabananda temple built by the same sthapatis who were also involved in the construction of the Sun Temple at Konark. The Garuda deity at the Madhabananda temple is very famous as it is believed he responds to the devotees prayer positively.

The historic background of the temple is very old and very less people know about it. The main deity at the Madhabananda temple is regarded as Jagannatha's maternal uncle, but in the absence of recorded evidence supporting that claim, people do not know about it and neither is the structure acknowledged by the organisations involved in archaeological conservation work. A few things dug from the ground are now lying on the temple premises.

The region near our native village can rightly be named as the Madhaba-cum-Shakti pitha. Saint poet Jayadev worshiped another incarnation of Madhaba, which is now inside the village named Kenduvilwa, the birthplace of the poet. Interestingly, the poet’s Geet Govinda is one of the favourites of Lord Jagannath as the God himself wrote a line in disguise of the poet while Jayadev was away.

(As told to Bibhuti Barik)