Every Year Three new Raths are made by Maharana Sebayat(Makers of Rath). On a note, Every chariot was built in a special construction method. That was followed by the last hundreds of years. Not writing any kind of math or till now not following any kind of special Engineering, Maharana Sebayat believed it was possible only for Jagannath and their help. Shri Jagannath Rath called NANDIGHOSH has 16 wheels, Shri Balabhadra Ratha TALADHWAJA have 14 and Maa Subhadra DARPADALAN have 12 wheels.
New wood comes every year from the special wood for different parts of Odisha. Every Rath’s maker are belongs different group. There are seven types of workers and it takes at least 200 people. Everything is handmade traditionally any modern tool or machinery is not used. The measurements are also done in the ancient system not in the modern metric system”
The Ratha Jatra or the Chariot Festival is believed to be as old as the Jagannath Temple in Puri. The festival encompasses the onward journey of the Holy Trinity to their maternal aunt Goddess Gundicha Devi’s Temple and culminates with the return journey after eight days. In reality, the festival stretches from the day of AkhayaTrutiya (in April) and culminates with the return journey of the Holy Trinity to the Shree Mandir premises called Bahuda Yatra.
LORD DURING QUARAMTINE_SPECIAL
Lord Jagannath was in quarantine, how i take his blessing? Am come from thousands of kilometers, is it not any other opetions? This kind of thinking was emerged on Chaitanya Mahaprabhu on 17th century. And this should take him a another world or we called discover another hidden deity.
Puri Brahmagiri’s Alarnath an Avtar of Bishnu
- The idol is made of black chlorite. Lord’s carrier Garuda can be found kneeling at the feet of the deity with hands folded in a prayer position.
- Devotees visiting Alarnath temple also get ‘Mahaprasad’ at the ‘Ananda Bazaar’ like the way they get in Srimandir in Puri. Here, the same amount of Prasad is offered to Lord Alarnath as it is offered to Lord Jagannath in Srimandir during normal days.
- Besides ‘Mahaprasad’, devotees also get Lord Alarnath’s favourite pudding ‘kheer’. Even though ‘kheer’ is available all throughout the year at the temple’s ‘Ananda Bazaar’, the demand for it goes up significantly during the ‘Anasara’ period.
There is a beautiful legend regarding the worship of Lord Alarnath during the ‘Anasara’ period.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the 15th-century saint, is considered as Lord Krishna’s avatar by his followers. Once he came to Puri. During his stay in the holy town, he used to have darshan of Lord Jagannath daily. However, during the ‘Anasara’ period, he wasn’t allowed to have the darshan of Lord Jagannath.
Feeling sad, he prayed to Lord Jagannath saying he would end his life by plunging into the ocean if he didn’t get a darshan of Him. Pleased with his prayers, Lord Jagannath came in his dreams and directed him to go to the Alarnath temple at Brahmagiri.
Following the directions, he visited the temple where he could see Lord Jagannath in the idol of Lord Alarnath. An elated Chaitanya Mahaprabhu prostrated before the deity. The stone melted after getting his blissful touch. His body impressions on the stone can still be found today. Since then, Lord Jagannath’s devotees have been visiting Alarnath temple during the 15-day-long ‘Anasara’ period.
Legend has it that the temple has been named after the Alwar royal dynasty of Rajasthan. It is believed that the shrine was established by one of the Alwar rulers and hence named Alwarnath or Alarnath temple. Some say the temple is associated with Alwar saint Ramanujacharya’s visit to Odisha. Carved out of black marble, the idol at the Alarnath temple has four arms holding a conch, a mace, a lotus and a
chakra.
