One of the famous and auspicious ritual of Lord Jagannath is
NABAKALEBARA.The word 'Nabakalebar' itself says,the 'new body' Naba
means new and Kalebara means body. It is a periodical auspicious ritual
performed in Lord Jagannath Temple.All the deities including Sudarshan,
Balabhadra, subhadra and Jagannath get new bodies leaving the old ones.
The old idols are sent to 'KOILI BAIKUNTHA',the resting place of Lords.
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This ritual occurs every 19 years when a year has two months of Ashadha as per the Hindu calendar and that year is auspicious for conducting the ceremony. All the idols of the deities are made Neem wood.These Neem woods are popularly known as Daru Bramha. The last Nabakalebara festival of 20th century had been celebrated in 1996.And this year i.e 2015 will see this auspicious ritual of Lord Jagannath,,as in 2015 there are two months of Asadha...So we are the blessed people to see the first Nabakalebara of this century.
According to Hindu Puranas, Prabhu Jagannath is Parambrahma, He has taken the form of wood to perform his LILA in this earthly world. So the four deities of SriMandira, Sri Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarshan renounce their old bodies to take on new bodies,this change is known as Nabakalebara. As per Bhagavad Gita ,every living being on this earth gradually attains youth,becomes old and finally dies. He is reborn in the world with a new body. The Nabakalebara of Sri Jagannath establishes this great truth.
The holy book, Madalapanji says Raktabahu had attacked Puri during the reign of King Shovana Dev of the Bhoumakara dynasty. So for the safe of deities the priests hid the idols in Sonepur under the soil. After 144 years the Somavanshi King Jajati Keshari I saved the Gods and placed the Brahma inside the image of Jagannath.So we may consider that the first Nabakalebara of Sri Jagannath had been performed during the time of JAJATI KESHARI.After that so many centuries have been passed away,but no written document of proofs regarding Nabakalebara are not found.Those years of Nabakalebara are still in shadow.Many scholars tried their best to give a flashback to this ritual.Among them Padmashri Satyanarayan Rajguru is one.He said that in 1308 and 1370 AD a Nabakalebara was performed in Srimandira.But As per the verified records,the first Nabakalebara was perfomed in the sixteenth century i.e 1574. After that in 1593,1608, 1627, 1646, 1665, 1684,1711,1809, 1828, 1855, 1874,1893,1912, 1931, 1950, 1969, 1977 and 1996 this holy ritual has been performed.
As per Hindu Puranas,the gods are made from the wood which is called in local language , with the spiritual touch as "Darus".These Darus are collected from Neem trees.Those Neem trees which have special divine symbol are eligible for this auspicious purpose.
There are some specific criteria regarding the selection of Darus. The Neem tree which is selected for Prabhu Jagannath has the following divine symbols.
1-The colour of the tree should be dark or dark-red.
2-The tree should have four straight branches.
3-The creeper plants should not touch that tree.
4-An Anthill should be present at the foot of the tree as well some snake-holes.
5-That tree should be present near a river or a pond.
6-It is good if a mountain is surrounded the tree by three side.
7- No nests of birds are present in that tree.
8-Near the temple,one cremation ground or a temple of Lord Shiva should be present.
9-There should be the mark of the divine symbol lika Sankha,Chakra,Gada and Padma in that tree.
10-Also no damage by the natural disaster like lghtening or storm should have found inn that tree.
1-The colour of the tree should be light brown.
2-The divine symbol like plough should be found in that tree.
3-There should be 7 branches of the tree which look like the hood of a cobra.
1-Three branches tree is required for the idol of Sudarshan which is red in colour.
2-A divine Chakra symbol should be present in that tree.
On the auspicious day of Chaitra Shukla Dashami,the collection procedure of Lords' Darus start.
First the Daru of Sri Sudarshan,then Sri Balavadra ,Devi Subhadra and Sri Jagannath has been taken up.
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This ritual occurs every 19 years when a year has two months of Ashadha as per the Hindu calendar and that year is auspicious for conducting the ceremony. All the idols of the deities are made Neem wood.These Neem woods are popularly known as Daru Bramha. The last Nabakalebara festival of 20th century had been celebrated in 1996.And this year i.e 2015 will see this auspicious ritual of Lord Jagannath,,as in 2015 there are two months of Asadha...So we are the blessed people to see the first Nabakalebara of this century.
According to Hindu Puranas, Prabhu Jagannath is Parambrahma, He has taken the form of wood to perform his LILA in this earthly world. So the four deities of SriMandira, Sri Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarshan renounce their old bodies to take on new bodies,this change is known as Nabakalebara. As per Bhagavad Gita ,every living being on this earth gradually attains youth,becomes old and finally dies. He is reborn in the world with a new body. The Nabakalebara of Sri Jagannath establishes this great truth.
The holy book, Madalapanji says Raktabahu had attacked Puri during the reign of King Shovana Dev of the Bhoumakara dynasty. So for the safe of deities the priests hid the idols in Sonepur under the soil. After 144 years the Somavanshi King Jajati Keshari I saved the Gods and placed the Brahma inside the image of Jagannath.So we may consider that the first Nabakalebara of Sri Jagannath had been performed during the time of JAJATI KESHARI.After that so many centuries have been passed away,but no written document of proofs regarding Nabakalebara are not found.Those years of Nabakalebara are still in shadow.Many scholars tried their best to give a flashback to this ritual.Among them Padmashri Satyanarayan Rajguru is one.He said that in 1308 and 1370 AD a Nabakalebara was performed in Srimandira.But As per the verified records,the first Nabakalebara was perfomed in the sixteenth century i.e 1574. After that in 1593,1608, 1627, 1646, 1665, 1684,1711,1809, 1828, 1855, 1874,1893,1912, 1931, 1950, 1969, 1977 and 1996 this holy ritual has been performed.
As per Hindu Puranas,the gods are made from the wood which is called in local language , with the spiritual touch as "Darus".These Darus are collected from Neem trees.Those Neem trees which have special divine symbol are eligible for this auspicious purpose.
For Lord Sri Jagannath
There are some specific criteria regarding the selection of Darus. The Neem tree which is selected for Prabhu Jagannath has the following divine symbols.
1-The colour of the tree should be dark or dark-red.
2-The tree should have four straight branches.
3-The creeper plants should not touch that tree.
4-An Anthill should be present at the foot of the tree as well some snake-holes.
5-That tree should be present near a river or a pond.
6-It is good if a mountain is surrounded the tree by three side.
7- No nests of birds are present in that tree.
8-Near the temple,one cremation ground or a temple of Lord Shiva should be present.
9-There should be the mark of the divine symbol lika Sankha,Chakra,Gada and Padma in that tree.
10-Also no damage by the natural disaster like lghtening or storm should have found inn that tree.
For Prabhu Sri Balavadra
1-The colour of the tree should be light brown.
2-The divine symbol like plough should be found in that tree.
3-There should be 7 branches of the tree which look like the hood of a cobra.
For Devi Subhadra
1-The tree should have five branches with yellow in colour.
2-Also five petal lotus flower should be present in that tree.
2-Also five petal lotus flower should be present in that tree.
For Sudarsan
1-Three branches tree is required for the idol of Sudarshan which is red in colour.
2-A divine Chakra symbol should be present in that tree.
On the auspicious day of Chaitra Shukla Dashami,the collection procedure of Lords' Darus start.
First the Daru of Sri Sudarshan,then Sri Balavadra ,Devi Subhadra and Sri Jagannath has been taken up.
JAY JAGANNATH
