Taking a coconut from a social outcast like Dasia Bauri to waiting for seven long days near the hut of Muslim devotee Salabega to give him darshan, there is no end to the legends surrounding Lord Jagannath.
Lord Jagannath’s blessings on his ardent devotee Rahul Sahu, who had fallen into a borewell at Janjgir Champa district in Chhattisgarh and was rescued after a 104-hour-long operation on Tuesday night, is immense. In a candid conversation with OTV, his father Ramkumar Sahu attributed the safe rescue of his son Rahul to Lord Jagannath.
For Rahul’s father, Lord Jagannath is not just a deity but someone who is part and parcel of their day-to-day life and bails them out whenever they are in trouble.
A day after Rahul was rescued, his father Ramkumar shared his experience of having the divine presence of Lord Jagannath in Rahul’s life and how he had rescued Rahul several times in the time of difficulties. Ramkumar expressed his willingness to visit Puri dham along with his family once Rahul is recovered completely.
Ramkumar recollecting an anecdote related to Lord Jagannath said, “During lockdown we had gone to Puri. We were taking bath in the Puri beach while Rahul was keeping an eye on our luggage. After some time, we found our son missing. We searched for the son’s whereabouts, but in vain. Later, some local Samaritans helped us in finding our son. We gave a few pictures of Rahul. With the help of those photographs, they found Rahul eating ‘kheer’ near Singhdwar and they took him to us. Coincidentally, my son was saved on the very day of Snana Purnima. It was nothing but Lord Jagannath’s grace on Rahul. My villagers had the same opinion in this regard. We are really grateful to Lord Jagannath for saving my son from the death trap.”
“I saw Lord Jagannath in the NDRF personnel who had come from Cuttack to rescue Rahul. The rescue operation was successful due to their relentless and dedicated efforts. I would like to thank them and I am really obliged to them. They skipped their meals and spent sleepless night just because they wanted to rescue Rahul as soon as possible. During the rescue operation, they only had drunk water and tea. I had seen them how they sent food and juice with the help of a rope to the borewell for my son’s wellbeing. I would like to thank them from the core of my heart for saving my son from the clutches of mere death”, Ramkumar signed off.