Variety

Celebrating Nagarjuna Besha in a pandemic year

Ramah SrinivasanNovember 2, 2020 | 18:41 IST

Even as people are deliberating on how best to celebrate upcoming festivals amid the coronavirus pandemic and the risk of contracting the virus, devotees of Lord Jagannath and Lord Balabhadra are missing out on the much-awaited grand spectacle of Nagarjuna Besha.

‘Nagarjuna Besha’ is an annual celebration that takes place at Puri Jagannath Temple. Legend has it that Lord Jagannath and Lord Balabhadra go out hunting during a specific day to destroy evil and thus mark the victory of good over evil. Nagarjuna Besha is a celebration of this victory of good.

Authorities are now gearing up for the festivities scheduled for November 27, when the two deities will don the warrior uniform in a symbolic gesture. All three deities of the Jagannath Temple - Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra - are believed to present themselves in various forms or ‘besha’ at different times of the year. All three are honoured during Nagarjuna Besha.

The festivities have a huge religious symbolism for people.

The iconic Jagannath Temple is an important Hindu temple, dedicated to Lord Jagannath, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, in Puri, Odisha. The present structure was rebuilt from the 10th century onwards, on the site of an earlier temple. The original temple was built by King Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva, the first of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty.

Unlike the stone and metal icons found in most Hindu temples, the idol of Lord Jagannath is made of wood and it gets ceremoniously replaced every 12 or 19 years by an exact replica. It is one of the Char Dhams; the others being Badrinath, Dwaraka and Rameswaram.

This celebration of Nagarjuna Besha is special since it is observed only in those years where the ‘panchaka’, the last five days of the holy month of Karthika, is observed for six days. This event is to happen after a lapse of 26 years. It was earlier observed on November, 26, 1963, November 26, 1966, November 16, 1967 and November 3, 1968. The last Nagarjuna Besha celebration was observed on November 16, 1994.

It is learnt that this Nagarjuna Besha celebration commemorates the slaying of Shahasrajuna by Parasurama. On October 26 this year, the shrine administration conducted a small in-house ceremony to mark the beginning of the preparations for the celebratory festival.

The legend behind the celebrations is fascinating. Kartyavera Arjuna was one of the many kings slain by Lord Parashurama. Though he was of divine origin, he was high on power and hence had to be put down for good. As per the Vaishanavite tradition, this celebration marks the end of Kartyavera Arjun by Lord Parashurama, essentially ‘good over evil’.

The reason behind Lord Parashurama being called Nagarjuna may be because he conquered Arjun.

In all Vaishnavite temples, there is this event of the Lord going hunting on one of the Brahmotsavam days. In other words, it is called ‘Parivettai’ meaning that the Lord is going hunting in the woods to defeat some evil forces.

The temple authorities are gearing up for the celebrations with clothes for the Lords, to weapons for the deities.

The deities will sport elaborate headgear and hold arrows, bows, plough, wheel and mace to signify the role of warriors.

Devotees, however, will not be able to partake in the celebrations even as the deities are given the finest clothes and the temple is decorated to mark the festival.

Also Read: Why Lord Jagannath endears you to love Him

 

Last updated: November 02, 2020 | 18:41
IN THIS STORY
Read more!
Recommended Stories