TV
In an unfortunate incident, Lord Jagannath allegedly slipped and swayed a lot to a side during the ceremonial ‘Pahandi’ ritual as part of the ‘Adapa Mandapa Bije’ festival in Puri on Friday. The ‘Chita’ (an ornament) from Lord’s head allegedly fell on the ground in the process.
As per reports, the unusual incident happened during the Pahandi ritual on the ‘Charamala’ of Nandighosha chariot when Lord Jagannath was carried on his way to the Adapa Mandap.
Several devotees have expressed their resentment over the deviation in the age-old-tradition and considered it as a bad omen.
However, as per the senior servitors, the incident is quite usual and it often happens during the Rath Yatra festival in Puri.
“Carrying out Pahandi ritual on ‘charamala’ is an arduous task. Charamala was slippery due to the heavy rain yesterday. It was very difficult for the servitors even to walk on charamala. This is the reason why some of the servitors lost their balance and Lord Jagannath swayed to a side a bit more during the Pahandi Bije Ritual,” said senior servitor Binayak Dasmohapatra.
“There is nothing to worry about as Lord Jagannath often swings and sways during the Pahandi Ritual. The incident was just part of the process. The Daitapati servitors have tried their best on the slippery ‘charamala’ to carry out the popular ritual,” he added.
However, Dasmohapatra dismissed the claim that the ‘Chita’ of Lord Jagannath fell on the ground during Pahandi Bije.
“Reports have been published in some sections of the media about the incident. But, it is not true and nothing like that has happened,” said Dasmohapatra.
