Puri: The arduous and secret 'Brahma Paribartan' (change of life substance) of Lord Jagannath's Nabakalebara ritual ended this evening after being delayed by about half a day.
The ritual had begun at the 12th century Sri Jagannath Temple here last night and was scheduled to be completed early this morning. But it was delayed as the Maharana (carpenter) servitors failed to carve out the new idols of the deities in time.
The Nabakalebara (the presiding deities changing their wooden bodies) is being held after a gap of 19 years. The last one was in 1996.
The four temple gates were closed when the Daitapati priests began the secret rituals last night and were reopened as they came out amid chants of 'Jai Jagannth' by lakhs of devotees waiting patiently outside.
"With the Lord's grace, everything was done as prescribed in the scriptures," Ramaksrushna Dasmohapatra, a senior Daitapati said.
As part of the secret rituals, the blind folded priests brought out the soul materials or Brahma from the old idols and put them in the new idols in darkness. Later, the old idols were taken to Koeli Baikuntha (the divine graveyard) within the temple premises and buried.
Along with four idols of Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra, Lord Jagannath and Lord Sudarshan, the wooden idols of horses and others fitted in chariots, were also buried as per vedic rites.
Earlier, Puri King Gajapati Maharaja Divyasingh Dev had performed 'purnahuti' at the yagna held before commencement of Brahma Paribartan.
After the departure of Gajapati Maharaja, all lights in and around the temple were switched off. The temple premises were then consecrated and the secret rituals of the Lords began.
The Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) made all arrangements for the smooth conduct of the secret rituals.
"There are a host of rituals that have to be completed. So many idols have to be buried. All this takes time. The entire process can take up to 12 hours. During the Nabakalebara in 1996 too the process was completed at about 3-4 pm," said SJTA chief administrator SC Mohapatra.
