Seraikela: Lord Jagannath gives Darshan in Varaha-Narasimha Avatar in Mashi Bari

Mail News Service

Seraikela, July 7: On Thursday, Mahaprabhu Sri Jagannath gave Darshan in Varaha-Narasimha Avatar to milling crowds of devotees at the Gundicha Mandir whose doors were opened to give a glimpse of the Lord and elder brother Balabhadra in Varaha Avatar.

On Thursday morning, the main gate of Gundicha temple was opened to the devotees who crowded the temple complex to behold the incarnation of Lord Jagannath-Balabhadra in Varaha-Narasimha form. The decoration of Lord Jagannath in different costumes in Gundicha temple is one of the main attractions of the Rath Yatra in Saraikela as it the only one of its kind in the region where costumes are changed in keeping with tradition. Lord Jagannath-Balabhadra in their reincarnated forms of Varaha-Narasimha were dressed by artists Sumit Mahapatra, Amit Mahapatra, Partha Sarathi Das, Shubham Kar, Mukesh sahu, Anubhav alias Manu Sathpathy and Vicky Sathpathy under the direction of Guru Sushant Kumar Mahapatra.

Informed sources stated that the tradition of changing costumes was introduced in the ‘70s and since then it had become an integral ritual of the Saraikela Rath Yatra. Artists like Guru Prasanna Kumar Mahapatra, Doman Jena and Sushant Mahapatra used to dress up as the Lord. Presently, under the direction of Guru Sushant Kumar Mahapatra, local artists were continuing with this tradition of the ‘70s. Closing the doors of the Gundicha temple that signifies Mashi Bari starts at midnight. The doors are opened early in the morning, hordes of devotees at the Gundicha Mandir offer prayers to Mahaprabhu Shri Jagannath, sister Subhadra and elder brother Balabhadra in their incarnated forms.