As the almighty God has arrived and the whole world is celebrating his birthday, let’s talk about his birthday rituals in different places and know how the people of earth welcome the supreme arrival. So, the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, Sri Krishna, took birth in the lap of Devaki, the sister of Kansa, Mathura’s king and Vasudev, the king of Yadav dynasty. As we all know this holy birth happened in the jail of King Kansa and as per the supreme instruction, the new born boy was taken by his father and exchanged with the new born girl of King Nanda and Yasoda of Gokuldham. The girl was none other than the incarnation of Goddess Yogamaya. The followers of Vishnu celebrate this day which lies on eighth lunar day of waning side of the Hindu month of Bhadraba.

The mythology

The day is called Janmastami as its Astami tithi and holds significance for all Vaishnav followers around the world. With great enthusiasm this day along with the day following to this is celebrated from the north to south end in India. The birth place of Sri Krishna, Mathura gears up with utmost happiness to celebrate their Kahna’s birthday. The devotees keep fast and chant the Lord’s name whole day. While all temples and Krishna worshipping centers celebrate the day as per the common rituals on Janmastami, the Jagannath temple in Puri carries some special significance about this celebration.

Puri- the sacred pilgrimage

Puri, one of the sacred pilgrimage land, is known for the divine presence of the Lord of Universe, Sri Jagannath mahaprabhu. If you have ever been to Puri to see those mysterious eyes of the Lord, I am sure, you have experienced the true form of ecstasy while mingling your eyes with him. The PARAM brahma attracts everyone to be trapped in the web of his mystery, and that is the real devotion. Do you know, Jagaa, fondly addressed by his devotees, has no certain gender, no shape or size, no particular species. The Goddess worshippers see him as the Devi, the Shiva worshippers find him as the Shankara, Lord Ganapati worshippers feel the happiness to see his Elephant attire (Gajanana Besa), the followers of Buddha see him as their God, the Jainas also found their Lord in him and no wonder, he come out once in a year to meet his devotees of other religions who are regularly not allowed inside the temple.

Rituals of Janmastami in the temple

Isn’t it surprising? Lord Jagannath can take each and every from of life and non-living. So as we proceed to talk about Janmastami celebration here in his place, you will be surprised to know that here, Our Jagaa takes the form of mother Devaki and gives birth to himself. How wonderful! Yes, On the previous eve of the great Janmastami festival, it is Saptami tithi and the rituals begin just after the ditties have their evening dhupa. After the offerings and Pujas at evening, the gate outside the sanctum sanctorumgarbha griha or the is closed and the inside is cleaned with holy waters.

The sandalwood offering is made by the MudrahastaJeuta BhogaAmaluPahuda niti servitors after this. As a pregnant woman doesn’t eat any rice kind of foods before her delivery time and healthy foods are given to her to smoothen the process of baby-birth, such rituals are observed here for the Lord also. Here the Lord is being offered the to facilitate the birth giving process. This Prasad include Kheer, a special curry, (a kind of pancake prepared from wheat), etc. Then a special Arti is offered to the ditties. But for Lord Jagannath, one more special Arti which is called Garbhodak (labor pain inducing) Bandapana is made. Then the bed rituals () take place and the ditties go to bed.

As our holy scripture Srimad Bhagabat says, “Mother Devaki was in labor pain from the Saptami tithi and the divine arrival of Krishna occur on the midnight of Astami tithi. So rituals in the Jagannath temple take place accordingly. On the day Astami, after the usual evening offering, the doors near to the Garbhagriha which are called the Jay bijay dwara are closed and the birth rituals start. Just after this gate, there is the Treasure room or Ratnabhandar is there to the north side. In front of this, a pavilion called the Janma chakada is present, on which the rituals take place. The Pujapanda servitors draw mandalas there, followed by worship of Varuna Deva. After that two painting- cards (JAnma patti) are brought, gold one provided by the traditional goldsmith servitors of the temple and the other by the painter servitors of the temple. Then the rituals proceed on its way by the Pujapanda servitors. This process is quite secret, as it includes the delivery rituals.

The after-birth rituals

The representative idols for Sri Krishna, Madanmohan are carried from the south side room and placed there symbolizing baby Krishna. Two Mahajan servitors of the temple play the characters of Vasudev and Devaki. As described in the scriptures, Vasudev carries the new born baby in a basket and leaves for Gokuldham. Just when he starts journey the father of king Kansa Ugrasen obstructs his way. The supreme lord, then appears in his Biswarup, with his weapons Sankha, Chakra, Gada and Lotus. This ritual also takes place in the Jagannath temple near the Bhubaneswari temple at the west direction of the temple premises, where a Khuntia servitor plays the character of Ugrasen and the sign of the weapons on the idol of Madanmohan is shown here.

Then the servitor playing Vasudev character comes to the Navikata mandap near the north gate in the temple premises. Just like the baby’s umbilical cord is clamped to stop the blood flow and later it is removed from the naval, exactly this ritual happens here on this mandap. The process covers the different rituals from the birth to the Upnayan or thread ceremony of the baby. Have you ever seen such traditions of our real life being carried out in a temple, for the supreme God?

Here inside the temple, near the Jagamohan, a swing is arranged by the servitors where Ramakrushna and Madanmohan idols are kept after all these birth rituals. The celebration of Janmastami comes to an end here with the Pahada ritual of the deities. The Janmastami is followed by the Nadotsav, which signifies the merrymaking of the people of Gokuldham along with Kind Nanda and mother Yasoda, after the birth of Kahna, the incarnation of Vishnu. Almost in all temples of Sri Krishna, the Janmastami observance ends up here with Nandotsav. But in Puri, its extended to some more days.

On the days of Navmi, Dasmi, Ekadasi, dwadasi etc. the different incidents described in the scriptures called the Krishna leela, are performed on these days. Killing of the demons like Putana, Pralambasura, BAkasura, Bimbasura, are observed as rituals outside the Lion gate of the temple. These end up with the killing of King Kansa. All these are performed as open air theatre plays.

Lord Jagannath as the symbol of gender equality

The celebration continues like this. So, here you can see the Lord of Universe is not always addressed as the masculine. Rather the feminine also evolves from him. As in Srimad bhagavad Gita, the Lord says, I am all in all. So, the sixteen thousand maiden ladies of Gokul also are the holy part of the Lord. Here Lord Jagannath becomes the mother, bears undergo the pain to deliver the baby, he becomes the Elephant to make his devotee happy. Many such forms of the Lord can be seen here. Then why are we fighting among ourselves regarding the gender discrimination issue?

We, Odia people practice our daily routine just as our Jagaa follows. But when it comes to the values, the principles we forget him. We forget that our Jagaa has no gender, no certain shape or no particular form. We must go with the truth that the male and female and the trans all are his creations. All are the same, in fact. We are some parts of him actually. Then aren’t we all divine beings? So, why such arrogance of being a male? Why such comparisons for being a girl? Why don’t we all realize we are special, beyond all physical features. Our souls have no gender or form. After leaving the mortal body, we all have to head towards the supreme soul, the Lord, the almighty, because we are parts of the God.

Extraordinary Janmastami rituals at Jagannath temple, Puri

Our Jagaa takes the form of mother Devaki and gives birth to himself.