Puri: The annual Rath Yatra of the Srimandir deities was organised at Kujanga Gada for five years beginning 1570 AD.
According to heritage expert Surendra Kumar Mishra, Kalapahada had attacked Srimandir and ordered his soldiers to set the Srimandir idols on fire on the bank of the Ganges in 1568. However, Bisara Mohanty, an ardent devotee of Lord Jagannath, recovered the souls (Brahma) from the half-burnt idols and brought them to Kujanga Gada.
Mohanty had put the souls (Brahma) inside the newly-crafted idols at Mahaveer Ashram near Kujanga Gada and worshipped the deities for two years. Subsequently, the king of Kujanga came to know about the deities. Soon, the king constructed a temple for the deities. “The annual Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath was organised at Kujanga Gada for five years starting from 1570,” Mishra said.
Similarly, the Car Festival was organised at Mahisa Nasi inside Chilika once during the attack of Kalyanmalla on Srimandir in 1611. Moreover, the souls of Srimandir idols were secretly taken to Manatrigada near Khurda during the attack of Mirza Ahmed Baig in 1621. The Nabakalebara rituals of the deities and the annual Rath Yatra were performed at Manatrigada, Mishra said.
“The Car Festival was organised once at Nairi village near Chilika during the aggression of Taki Khan-II in 1733,” he added.
On the other hand, the mega festival was once organised secretly inside Srimandir soon after the attack of Ekram Khan in 1692.
Researchers claimed that Khan had attacked Srimandir at the behest of emperor Aurangzeb. Khan had planned to demolish the shrine altogether and set the idols on fire. However, the Gajapati king had handed over fake idols to Khan while the original idols were hidden somewhere on the temple precincts.
The king had also provided huge amount of money to Khan. Soon after the exit of Khan from Puri, the deities were taken to Goddess Bhagabati temple at Kokalagada through Bhargavi river. The Chandan Yatra of the deities was organised at Kokalagada.
Subsequently, the deities were secretly brought back to Srimandir. However, the shrine had been closed for the devotees. “The Snana Purnima ritual and the Rath Yatra were organised secretly on the shrine premises. A few servitors performed the rituals by entering the shrine through a secret gate,” Mishra claimed.