After getting divine instruction from Goddess Mangala of Kakatpur in their dream at the Deuli mutt, the Banajaga Yatra team members split in four groups on Sunday and fanned out to different directions to locate Darus (neem trees) for the new idols of the Puri deities. The team had been camping at the mutt since its arrival here from Puri on April 2. After conduct of the all important majana niti (specialised bathing ritual) of Maa Mangala at her temple and the receipt of the agyanmala (go ahead order) from her for search of darus, the Banajaga team members had been chanting the swapnabati mantra (a specialised invocation for inducing dreams) before going to sleep.
“We have checked at different places, but it doesn’t mean that all those darus will be for lord Jagannath. They may be fit for lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and lord Sudarshan. We all are moving in the direction as revealed in Maa Mangala’s prophesy, which is east-south direction (purba-dakshin). We will decide on it after discussing among ourselves. We Daitapatis, our dalapati (team leader), upadalapati (deputy team leader), president, secretary and other members of the team will decide on the darus after referring to scriptures and conducting certain rituals. It doesn’t mean that wherever we go and locate a daru (neem tree) it will be fit for carving of idols,” said Ramakrushna Dasmohapatra, upadalapati of the Banajaga team and president of Daitapati Nijog.
“We will continue with this search till 6 pm in the evening. We will walk for around 30 km and then enter a forest as told by Maa Mangala. On our return to Deuli mutt, we will have havishaana (specially cooked pure vegetarian meal by using specific ingredients). Now, we are on a fast, we won’t even take water during our barefoot journey till we are back at the mutt. We have the blessings of Maa Mangala and lord Jagannath with us which will guide us to find Him,” said Jagannath Swain Mohapatra, chief badagrahi (chief body protector) of lord Jagannath. “This is His leela. It is He who will show us the way to the divinely ordained daru. We have come 70 km to Kakatpur from Puri guided by Him. He will again guide us and we will discover the daru,” said Ramachandra Das Mohapatra, chief badagrahi (chief body protector) of Devi Subhadra.