On the eastern shores of India and in the State of
Odisha (Orissa) there lies an important pilgrimage centre of Hindus known as
Puri or conversely Jagannatha Puri, being the abode of Lord Jagannatha. Puri is
also considered as the cultural capital of Odisha. It was established by Adi
Shankaracharya, the spearhead of Hindu renaissance during the 8th century CE. We
went there along with our families. For the ladies, the purpose of the visit
could have been a sort of pilgrimage but the men folk were there for sight
seeing, fun and frolic. It was an endurance test as we needed to keep the women
folk in good spirits. We made Bhubaneswar as our base camp. After our breakfast
on a sunny morning we hunted and hired a station wagon kind of a vehicle and
proceeded to Puri, which was at a distance of 70 kilometres.
The road led us through the country
side but the rural settings of that part seemed a little bit different. Being in
the coastal region there were coconut and Areca nut palms at the far end of
paddy fields. They were not as dense as we find in the western coast of India.
The breeze coming from the paddy fields though had a nostalgic
smell. Amidst the rural settings there was a
way side restaurant (Dhaba) surrounded by shady trees. We thought of
replenishing our tummies and parked our vehicle inside. The food, after some
deliberations/consultations was settled for and duly ordered. Tables and chairs
were laid out beneath the trees and we rested for more than half an hour by
which time the service started. The quality of food was better than what we
expected.
 |
| My nephew Girish checking up in front of the restaurant |
When our lunch was over, we stayed
for some time more and then proceeded to our destination. Around 2.30 pm we were
at Puri. Our stay was pre-arranged at a holiday home of a reputed Bank but when
we reached there, the caretaker was nowhere to be seen. The women looked tired
and decided to enjoy a nap in the sofas at the reception. On our part we started
hunting for the caretaker. The gentleman arrived after some time and we were at
our wits end when he announced that no rooms have been booked for us.
Immediately we contacted the local officials of the Bank over our cell phones.
Hearing us speaking to the higher ups in the hierarchy, he offered to provide
the much needed accommodation but in the meantime he too received phone calls
which made him to apologise offering some alibis. We got three Air-conditioned
rooms which were quite up to the mark. The holiday home itself has a beautiful
building very close to the sea. We rested in our rooms till 7.00 pm in the
evening and then proceeded to visit the
Jagannatha temple for which Puri is famous. |
| My niece Gouri imitating Kate in Titanic on the terrace of the holiday home |
Since that was not my first visit, I
cautioned all to refrain from conversing with or entertaining the Pandas (the
priests) and that I shall take care of them. My apprehensions were not
ill-founded. Soon thereafter Pandas started playing their tricks. They exploit
the gullible. They offer to conduct special rites/rituals very close to the
deities. In the process the innocent devotees are made to part with heavy sums
of money in the name of pleasing the lord thereat. Since I am conversant with
Oriya, the local language, I made it very clear
to them that we have done that 6 months back and do not intend to have anything
performed on our behalf at this juncture. After freeing ourselves from those
lechers we proceeded to the Sanctum Sanctorum which is otherwise quite large. We
met with the symbolic idols of Balbhadra, Jagannath and Subhadra made of jack
wood timber which do not have any semblance with Gods of Hindu pantheon. Some of
the Pandas were seated very close to the deities as if they are there to provide
salvation. After coming out we also went around the temple which has a huge
campus with lots of smaller shrines. Since it is an 11th century temple, the
sculptures are really beautiful, but then one is not allowed to take a camera or
a mobile phone inside. After this courtesy call on Jagannath & Company, we
returned to the holiday home where our dinner was waiting. Before going to bed
we had decided to visit the beach before sunrise next day.
Although before the day break, we had
our bed coffee but since our rooms were apart, it took some time for all to get
ready. The Sun God obviously can’t wait for us. We ran to the sea shore. The Sun
was quite above the horizon still the cool sea breeze was very comforting. A
small boat was lying in the sands. Children pulled it nearer to the waters and
by that time the owner turned up. The kids including the grown ups could
negotiate a deal with the boatman and he was too willing to take them to some
distance. The ladies started agitating and shouted at them. They were dissuaded
from venturing into the sea. While we were walking towards our children, we came
across a beautiful piece of sand art, probably the creation of a sand artist,
Sudarshan Patnaik. Puri is also famous on that count. Sudarshan Patnaik is
acclaimed internationally. He has exhibited his talent in several countries and
won several awards.
 |
| Poor Mumtaaz - Who could have made her a Shurpanakha |
The art piece stated above was the
portrayal of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (creator of Taj Mahal) and his lady
love Mumtaaz Mahal. A small replica of Taj Mahal made of marble was also placed
behind symbolically. Seeing all this my brother got excited and started his own
creation. With effort he could build something looking like a fort. Finding him
sitting in a ditch his wife queried as to what is he digging up. He retorted “a
grave for myself”. His wife continued “and what about me”. Sensing trouble, if
this continues, I requested his wife to desist from further
questioning.
There is a legend about sand art at
Puri. There used to be a great poet named Balram Das who lived in the 14th
century. He was the author of “Dandi Ramayan”. A car (Chariot) festival takes
place at Puri around July every year. Balram Das, during one such festival,
tried to climb up the chariot to pay his obeisance to the lord but he was abused
by the Pandas and made him to climb down. He was grieved and with a heavy heart
headed for the sea front (known as Mahadadhi). There working with the wet sand,
he created the images of the three deities namely Balbhadra, Jagannath and
Subhadra and started praying whole heartedly. It is said that all the three
deities who were being carried in the Chariots during that particular festival
just vanished and were so pleased with the devotion that they appeared before
Balram Das live. People believe that the sand art form has its roots there.
Anyway we may dismiss this simply as a myth. After all we do come across
children exhibiting their creativity whenever they find time to play with sand.
Yet another legend is that of Lord Rama, who at Rameswaram created a Shiv Linga
out of sand and prayed.
 |
| A child playing with sand - He has made a Buddhist Stupa |
After enjoying the sea breeze for
some time, we started returning. The women folk were insisting to have a morning
audience with Lord Jagannath. We had to succumb but again with an advisory with
regard to the Pandas. We spent our time loafing around the market. Fortunately
they joined us after an hour or so. Perforce we had to give them company for
their marketing needs. Primarily there were several kinds of handicrafts on
sale. There were brass/bronze items on sale. A tall lamp interested us but the
cost seemed prohibitive. After finishing off the shopping spree, we straightaway
headed to a hotel to have some breakfast. Thereafter to our holiday home as the
warmth was becoming unbearable. We all were perspiring profusely. After lunch we
returned to Bhubaneswar visiting Konark Sun temple en route. 
