The frequent visits of Banajaga team to several locations of Jagatsinghpur district has set off a flutter that Nabakalebar Darus may have been detected in the district which await official declaration by the Puri Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA).
In the past one week, the Daitapatis and other team members visited various locations in the district and there were talks around that three big neem trees have been spotted in which all the signs for identifying Darus have been noticed.
Banjaga team leaders Jagannath Swain and Badagrahi Mohapatra accompanied by about 30 servitors had visited Kharipadia village near Raghunathpur on Saturday. Another Banajaga team had toured the spot on Sunday, where a big neem tree was examined.
Notably, mere examination of trees may not qualify it for the Darus since in the 1996 Nabakalebar, several neem trees were shortlisted, but later were rejected owing to undisclosed reasons. However, this time following frequent visits of Banajaga teams and repeated examining, it suggests the members are satisfied with a few neem trees and are likely to recommend them at the SJTA meeting to be held at Puri shortly.
Another spot visited by the Banajaga team is Adhanga Majurai village under Biridi block. There the servitors found a big neem tree inside the Nilakantheswar temple. The team members had inspected the tree and examined its surroundings and discussed with the locals about the continuation of the tree. Sources said that the tree too had been chosen during 1996 Nabakalebar, but was later rejected.
The Banajaga team also visited Jhankada village under Tirtol block for locating Daru. A huge neem tree was inspected there by the members who also collected information about the tree. They expressed satisfaction with regard to the location of the tree and assured the devotees that the tree may be shortlisted.
Meanwhile, devotees are thronging to the locations in the aftermath of the Banajaga teams visit. They have started offering flowers and observed Puja at the spotted trees. Police deployment was made to avoid any untoward incident during the visit of the Banajaga teams to the district.