Lord Sudarsan's 'daru' tree falls on ground

Bhubaneswar: After completing all rituals, the daru identified for lord Sudarshan at Gadakuntunia village near Balakati on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar was finally brought to ground.

The daru or the neem tree to be used to carve the idol of lord Sudarshan was felled in the Ishanya (North-East) direction yesterday at 9:02 pm amid chants of Jai Jagannath by thousands of gathered devotes.

After the completion of Purnahuti of the holy yajna which began on Thursday, the cutting of the sacred tree began at 4pm last evening.

The Vidyapati first touched the tree with a golden axe, followed by Biswabasu with a silver axe marking the start of cutting of the holy tree. Later, the Biswakarma servitors started cutting the tree. The trunk will be sent to Puri on a bullock cart after 'Chaupata’ ritual is conducted. The remaining branches of the sacred wood will be buried in the ground, said sources.