Aahe Nilaa Shailo....

Who is he and why is he called Bhakta Salbeg.

In days where there was Mughal invasion of the holy land of Puri, Odisha there was a Muslim Soldier called Salbeg. At the end of one day he returned home severely wounded. His mother being a Hindu Brahmin advised him to pray to Lord Krishna and suddenly and miraculously his wounds were healed and to his surprise he felt relaxed. 

Impressed with this incident he was attracted to Hinduism and enquired more about this. His mother guided him the ways of life and then he turned to be a devotee of Lord krishna. He came to know Lord Jagannath is the incarnation of Krishna and then wanted to his darshan in Srimandir. But Srimandir being the a place of hindu worship where non hindus are not allowed entry he was barred from entering the temple. Devasted by this he cried a lot and the barefoot walked towards Vrindavan where he lived for a year. During his stay there in Vridavan he used to write and sing Bhajans in praise of Lord Krishna and so on.

A year later he got to know about the fact that in Rathyatra the lord of Puri Comes out of the temple itself and goes to his aunty's house for 9 days. And during these days anyone can see and meet Jagannath. With this hope Salbeg travelled back to Puri to see his Bhagwan but he know that he wont be make it to Rathyatra, on his way back he prayed to Lord to wait for him till he reaches Bada danda. Its witnessed that on the return journet to Srimandir, Nandighosha (Chariot Of Lord Jagannath) dint move forward and said to be waiting for Salbeg. late in the afternoon when Salbeg reached Bada dand and saw his lord on Nandighosh then only the chariot moved. What a relation between Bhakta and Bhagawan ... for those who believe he is there and for those who don't he is not.

One whose ancestors invaded states destroying thousands of place of worship in other religion and practice, the Lord does not differentiate and showers his blessing on those who do bhakti to him...

Below written one is probably the best bhajan by Salbeg ....

Aahe Nila Shaila Prabal matta Varan
mo aarata nalinee bana ku kara dalana!

Gajaraja chinta kala thai ghora jalena,
Chakra peshi nakra nashi, uddhrile aapana!

Ghorabane mrugini ku padithila kashana,
Kede bada beepatti ru kariaccha tarana.

Kurusabha tale suni Draupadi ra janana,
Koti bastra dei hele lajja kala barana!

Ravana ra bhai Bivishana gala saran,
Saran sambhali tanku, Lanke kala raajana.

Prahlada pita se je bada dushta daruna,
Stambha ru bahari taku bidarila takhana.

Kahe Salabega hina jaati re mu jabana,

Sriranga charan tale karuachhi janana. 

     Jai Jagannath.

Ratha Yatra or Ghosha Jatra or Gundicha Jatra (2days to go)

Two days to go for the auspicious Rathayatra or the famous Ghosha jatra. Preparations are on as per time and tradition to make the lord's annual visit to his aunty's place. Many of us may or may not know the reason why every year this Rathyatra is being performed and why so much of chaos every time with the grand festival.To all curious people for the answer let me tell you the reason.

Rathyatra hosts Lord Jagannath, the lord of the "ODIAS" and as they call it as "lord of the universe" he is regarded in all religions. But he represents sanatan dharma and an avatar of Lord Krishna. He is the only deity who is not made up of stone but instead he is made of wood (in Odia DAARU which means Neem tree trunk). The lord resides in Srimandir in Puri. Everyday lakhs of devotees pay holy visits to the deity to offer their prayers to him. And being one of the four most sacred places for the Hindus Puri Jagannatha temple has special place in devotion & sacredness for the Hindus across the world.But for non Hindus or people from all other religions, entry to Srimandir is Strictly prohibited. Even the Converted Hindus from ISCON are not allowed in the temple. In local media we hear many foreign creatures being caught at the main gate while they were trying to enter the temple. you may ask the question like why this restriction as at other places of worship for Hindus there is no such restriction. Let me answer you - this is a sacred place for Hindus and not a tourist place and we Odias have faith that our deities are Moving Gods ("Chalanti Pratima") & they are very sacred. from ancient times the deities & the temple have been kept very sacred and the spirituality has been maintained till date. From the British time to the Mughal invaders nobody has been able to enter the temple or touch the deities. At times when the invaders attacked the state & raided the temples,  deities were taken out of the temple to secret places where sacred temples were built and the deities were worshiped. The instances of Kalapahad & other non Hindu rulers attackers and the safe & secret custody of the lords are well known to the world.The current temple which under the care of Archeological survey of India has been raided by many invaders and looted by many. And every time with Vedic rituals we have made the temple clean and as sacred it was ever. In that concern the temple is kept heavenly sacred and you can feel the sacredness the momment you enter it.
Even there were many non Hindu devotees to the Lord bu they too were not allowed in the temple. "Bhakta salbeg" the great muslim devotee's name come first in the list who was a cotton weaver in the ancient city of Cuttack & was a great devotee of lord Jagannath. Once he dreamt of offering his handmade pillows to the lord and carried two greatly weaved pillows to the temple but the Badapanda - Pujari's dint allow entry to the temple & even threw away the pillows made by him. Bhakta salbeg pleaded the lord and offered his prayers and to everybody's surprised the very next day morning when the main doors were opened for the first rituals of the Lord, it was seen that the lords were resting on the same pillows made by Salbeg.

Earlier Hindus from lower caste too were not allowed in the temple & the instance of "Dasia Bauri" proves that. Once Dasia bauri being a lower caste Hindu devotee wanted to see the lords & offer coconuts to him. He entered the temple but at the 22 steps the Pujaris caught him and getting to know his caste they expelled him out of the temple.Dasia bauri was a great devotee and being bitten by the Pujaris he too pleaded to the Lord and for one Momment the lord vanished from his place and took the coconuts from dasia Bauri's hand and paid him for the due devotion. And then to maintain the dignity of the devotees and the temple & deity sacredness the lord announced that once in a year, the lords will come out of the Srimandir & give darshan to his devotees who are not allowed inside. During this Rathyatra the lords come out of the temple to visit their aunt's place called Gundicha, hence its called Gundicha Jatra. The lords stay there for 9days and on the 9th day they return to Srimandir. Once the lords are out of srimandir anybody can touch him, see him & pray him. But the number of people at the Bada danda during the rathyatra is so much that you need to be really lucky enough to touch the deity. What kindness the lord is showering ; for people who can not come to his place he is coming out to offer a darshan and its said that everyone who makes Darshan of the lords on the Ratha will be free of all his sins.
Thursday, the 21st 2012, the lords are coming out for which Bada danda is waiting, Ratha is waiting and his all his devotees are all waiting....

May Lord Jagannatha bless you all with all good fortune & best of health.

Jai Jagannath ...

The epic story behind Lord Jagannath...

       

The epic story behind the the origin of Lord Jagannath goes back to ancient days when present day Lord Jagannath was being worshiped as Nila Madhava by a tribal head called Biswabasu. The name Nilamadhaba comes from the mountain that is always covered by the dense forest making it tougher for anyone to reach.The story goes, in the state of Malwa there was a king called Indradyumna who was an ardent devotee of lord Vishnu.His utter devotion landed him to see Lod Vishnu in his manly eyes and he in his prayers pleaded the lord to give him Darhan. After long in a divine dream he was told that Lord Vishnu can be seen in his best form in the state of then Utkala. The king then send Vidyapati to find & submit a report on Lord Vishnu. Bidyapati, after a very secret research got to know about Biswabasu & the lord Nilamadhaba , but upon request he denied to show him the way to Nilamadhaba. Failing to get the way to Nilamadhaba by hook or crook Bidyapari Decided to stay there and by playing tricks he married Lalita, daughter of Biswabasu. And after humble request by her daughter, Biswabasu was ready to take blindfolded Vidyapati to the secret cave where nilamadhaba was being worshiped and there Bidyapati played another trick to get the way to Nilamadhaba. While travelling to Nilamadhaba with Biswabasu, Bidyapati had taken unrippen mustard along with him and went on putting the same on the way to Nilamadhaba. On reaching Nilamadhaba, Bidyapati was lost in the beauty of the lord vishnu and thanked Biswabasu and returned to the king Indradyumna.On reaching back he narrated the existence of the lord and with no wait the king with his near & dears went to Utkala to get a glimpse of the lord. By the time Bidyapati was back in Utkala the unriped mustard were full grown mustard and took the king with Bidyapati to the secret cave but as Bidyapati had cheated his beloved devotee  Biswabasu , the lord disappeared from the cave. this led Indradyumna to be disheartened and knowing the fact from Bidyapati he then pleaded the lord to give him darshan. Without any result the king summoned the Lord that if he does not give him darshan before sunset he will end his life. In the evening when the king was about to fire the death bed the lord in a heavenly voice told him to find logs of wood in the seashore in Puri & prepare statues 7 observe puja.
Getting relif by this the king along with the entire army went to the seashore where he found 4 logs on "Neem Daru" floating with shankh,chakra gada & padma symbols marked on them. On trying to get the logs out of water even after using the army & the huge elephants to move out of water they didn't even move from their actual place. then again the king was ready with his death bed but the lord in a heavenly voice ordered that his ardent devotee Biswabasu's touch will move the logs out of water hence Biswabasu was called to help and he served the logs to be carried to the king's palace. Then the real thing had to be done to get the logs in the best form of Nilamadhaba. So the king asked the royal carpenters to get the logs turned into the lords but as nobody had seen lord Vishnu nobody could dare to touch the logs and whosoever tried the tools on the logs ,the tools got damaged with out a stain on the logs. A hopeless king now announced that anyone who will be able to make the real vishnu idols from the logs would get half of his state and anything he asks for but being disappointed he again got up to the death bed but & in the same evening an too old man with his tools appeared in front of the king and told him to allow him. but the king with carelessness asked to show up his skills leading to which the old man tore the skin out of the log with his nails. being assured of his skills the king allowed him but the old man put up conditions like he won't be disturbed till 21 days and he will be allowed to  do his job in the most secret chamber and he even does not need anything for himself that can disturb him. And if anybody happens to see him working & the door be opened, he will leave from then & won't b responsible for anything that happens to them thereafter. As the king agreed to the terms, the old man was allowed to be inside the locked chambers. Like the king the  queen too had utmost devotion for the lord and she used to listen to the construction noise from outside the chamber. till the 15th day everything was fine but on 18th day when she didn't hear any noise from the chamber  her anxiety led her to many assumptions and fearing the old man's death inside the chamber she prompted the king to open the door. The king when unwillingly opened the door, they dint get any trace of the old man in the chamber and what was left was the 4 half  made huge statues of the Lords. With utter disappointment on breaching trust with his the old man, the king repented on his act and requested the lord to explain the act and while attempting to end his life once more the  heavenly voice explained the statues as Lord Balabhadra,Subhadra & Lord Jagannath. The king was ordered to allow Biswabasu to be the head priest to offer puja after the statues get placed in a heavenly temple in the seashore which the king executed. Promptly he built a huge temple and looked for some Brahmins to do the "Pratisha utsava" but he dint find any body suitable for the same. Then Narada appeared and told him about the creator of the universe lord Brahma to be the best one to do the job and on his guidance indradyumna went to Brahmalok to invite Brahma and on reaching earth with Brahma he was amazed not to find the temple in place as a moment in Brahmalok is equal to 1000 years on earth.The then king of Utkala while going on his horse the horse got hit by the "Nilachakra" which in turn revealed  the lost temple and he claimed the temple to be one of his ancestors and fought with Indradyumna for the possession. Then Indradyumna without any witness alive urged the lord to do justice and the lord appeared in front of the kings and awarded the temple to Indradyumna and after lord brahma did the "Pratistha utsava" the lords being pleased with the devotion of the Indradumna offered a wish to him. To this wish to be fulfilled indradyumns requested the lord to do such a situation that there should be no one to say that the temple was built by his ancestors which the lords approved and disappeared. Since then the lords are there as Lord jagannatha (Lord Krishna), Lord balabhadra(lord balarama) & Lord Subhadra (lord Krishna's sister) along with sudarshan(Lord Krishna's aayudha). People say the ever roaring sea is the witness to Indradyumna and his devotion to lord vishnu who still lives herein to give mokshya to everybody who bows his head to him...

Jai Jaganath swamy Nayana Pathagami bhava tu me...