Odisha Review June - 2014 20th Century’s Last Nabakalebara : The Best Managed One Asit Mohanty The last Nabakalebara festival of twentieth century Bhubaneswar to take Oath of Office. The had been celebrated in 1996. Apart from being Nabakalebar of 2015, apart from its chronological the last one of the past century, it was also the importance is also vital for the present CM as it ultimate Nabakalebara of the millennium. Now would be the first Nabakalebara during his rule in we have already entered and traversed more than Odisha. Peaceful, hassle free conduct of coming a decade of the new third millennium and twenty Nabakalebar can add another feather to the cap first century. of CM Mr. Naveen Patnaik. Another Nabakalebara of Sri Jagannath During planning of the last Nabakalebara is scheduled to be held in 2015. It also bears much of last millennium, all the problems and aberrations significance. It is the first Nabakalebara of twenty of past Nabakalebar celebrations had been first century and the new millennium. deeply studied by the then State Government Janaki Ballav Patnaik was the chief under Mr. Janaki Ballav Patnaik. Because of it minister when the Nabakalebara was celebrated the stumbling blocks could be removed and in Puri in 1996. Historians say it was the most Nabakalebara could be celebrated in 1996 in a disciplined and well managed Nabakalebara disciplined manner without any major hiccups. celebration in history. Naveen Patnaik now holds Present State Government has also started the reign of State Government as the Chief preparations for the coming Nabakalebara. Minister. It is obvious that the next Nabakalabara Everyone dreams that coming Nabakalebara around a year ahead would be managed under would be of better experience. But for it lessons his leadership. learnt from experiences during previous Nabakalebara celebrations have to be deeply Present CM Naveen Patnaik also bears studied. It would become a major catalyst to special attraction and respect for Lord Jagannath. make first Nabakalebara of twenty first century a Before taking oath as the CM of the State for the peaceful, hassle free, well managed, disciplined fourth time on 21st May, he preferred to fly to festivity. Puri from Bhubaneswar and have darshan of the Lord of Nilanchal. After bowing down before the The ritual of Nabakalebara festival can deities in Sri Jagannath temple before 8AM, he be well compared to that of the Kumbh Mela at had returned back to Raj Bhawan in Prayag. The Bhagavad Gita talks of Lord 120 June - 2014 Odisha Review Krishna’s discourse to Arjuna where he Accordingly, the Nabakalebara of the wooden speaks about the immortality of the soul. He images worshipped in Puri usually takes place had said that the soul is ever lasting while almost after every nineteen years.The Puranas tell the body is transient and that the soul leaves us that Sri Jagannath was being initially the old or diseased body to enter into a new worshipped as Nilamadhaba, an image carved body just as old clothes are replaced by new out of rock in Nilakandara. Later, He was ones. In this context, the famous sloka of the worshipped as an image made of wood. Bhagavad Gita goes as follows : Basansi jirnani According to the stories chronicled in the Skanda jatha bihaya, Nabani gruhanati naraa Purana and the Brahma Purana, Indradyumna had aparani, Tatha sharirani bihaya jirna built the images with wood that had drifted from Nyanyani sanjati nabani dehi. the western seas to lodge on the eastern shores. And Sri Jagannath manifests Himself Biswakarma, the celestial carpenter, had built the exactly in the manner of Krishna’s discourse to images as per the orders received in a dream from Arjuna, making Himself as unique as He is Lord Krishna. According to the Madalapanji, venerated. For nowhere else in India is there a Raktabahu had attacked Puri during the reign of tradition of an image changing its physical body Shovana Dev of the Bhoumakara dynasty. So at intervals. Though Sri Jagannath is during that time, the priests had carried away the Parambrahma, He has manifested Himself image of Sri Jagannath to Sonepur and hid it there in the form of ‘daru’ (wood) in the by burying it underground. King Jajati Keshari I Purushottam Kshetra to perform His ‘lila’ as of the Somavansh dynasty had brought Sri a human being. Hence, Sri Jagannath, Jagannath back from Sonepur after 144 years and Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarshan—the built the new idol according to classical principles. four images in the Jagannath Temple in He had placed the Brahma inside the image of Puri—renounce their old bodies at intervals Jagannath and placed Him in a new temple which to take on new bodies. This change of bodies was 38 feet high. Thus, it may be concluded that is referred to as Nabakalebara. The the first Nabakalebara of Sri Jagannath had been Bhagavad Gita tells us that every living being performed in the tenth century.Another ten on this earth gradually attains youth, centuries or a thousand years have since passed becomes old and finally dies. He is reborn in by but unfortunately, the years in which the the world with a new body. The Nabakalebara Nabakalebara had been performed during these of Sri Jagannath establishes this great truth.It ten centuries have gone unchronicled. Padmashri cannot be said for sure when exactly the tradition Satyanarayan Rajguru, the celebrated scholar on of Nabakalebara began in Purushottam Kshetra Sri Jagannath, has written about a Nabakalebara or Puri. But the tomes dealing with the principles being performed in the year 1370. He has also of construction of images tell us about the lives of written that the first Nabakalebara of Sri images built with jewel, metal, wood and clay. Jagannath had been performed in the Srimandir According to these tomes, images built with jewel (Jagannath Temple) in the year 1308. However, have a life of ten thousand years, metal images according to verifiable records, the first have a life of one thousand years, wooden images Nabakalebara had been performed in 1574. The have a life ranging between twelve and eighteen second Nabakalebara of the sixteenth century had years and clay images have a life of only one year. been performed in 1593. But in the seventeenth 121 Odisha Review June - 2014 century, five Nabakalebaras had been performed, not been able to manage the crowd and maintain in the years 1608, 1627, 1646, 1665 and 1684. law and order. As a result, three men and four The first Nabakalebara of the next century was women had died in the stampede that took place held in 1711 and thereafter, four more were held near the Singhadwara (Lions’ Gate). The next at intervals of nineteen years. Once again in the Nabakalebara was held in 1874. Considering the nineteenth century, five Nabakalebaras were held, fact that during that time Gajapati Dibyasingh Dev each after a gap of 19 years from the previous was just a minor under the guardianship of one. Thus, these had been performed in the years Maharani Suryamani Patamahadei and also 1809, 1828, 1855, 1874 and 1893. But in the keeping in view the mishaps of the last last century, i.e., the twentieth century, the Nabakalebara, the District Magistrate had Nabakalebara had been performed six times, in constituted a high power committee in 1874 and the years 1912, 1931, 1950, 1969, 1977 and the conducting of the Nabakalebara had been 1996. entrusted to this committee. In 1893, when the time for the next And out of the Nabakalebaras performed Nabakalebara arrived, Maharani Suryamani in the twentieth century, the one held in 1996 was Padamahadei was not willing to perform it giving the last of the century. And it was this last reasons that it involved ‘a great deal of trouble Nabakalebara that had been the most well- and a lot of money’. As a result, only a partial organized. No other Nabakalebara so far had Nabakalebara had taken place that year wherein been carried out to such perfection. only the clothes of the images had been changed Historical records show that many a time, and the wooden frames had been left untouched. the Nabakalebara had not been performed The authorities had cancelled the ritual of Nava because of financial difficulties. They also reveal Youvana Darshan fearing that there could be a that the pilgrims and devotees had to put up with law and order problem because of the huge a lot of hardship at times because of administrative crowd. However, the authorities had not been able bottlenecks in conducting the ritual. Ramachandra to control the devotees. They remained rooted at Dev, the son of Mukunda Dev II was the Gajapati the four doors of the Temple, as a result of which of Puri and the caretaker of the Jagannath Temple the daily rituals of the deities could not be at the time of the Nabakalebara held in the year performed. It was morning by the time the rituals 1828, though by that time, he had already lost could be completed. The Badasinghara Bhog the kingdom of Khurda. This led to much financial could not be offered to the deities either. The constraint. So H. H. Alo, the then Collector, had priests had carried the Mahaprasad outside requested Commissioner Pockenham through a across the walls in pots tied to ropes. Most of the letter to sanction funds for the Nabakalebara. pots containing the Mahaprasad broke in the Accordingly, though Pockenham had sanctioned process and the pilgrims were put to much Rs.5,500, the money was not sufficient to conduct inconvenience. The Vaishnavites and the Naga the ritual.