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Once a year, the three chariots come out and the arithmetic of Puri changes.

Lakhs of people press into a road built for a few thousand. Ropes go taut. Wooden wheels the height of a man begin to turn. And at some point in all of that noise, a man steps up onto the chariot of the Lord of the Universe, picks up a golden broom, and sweeps the floor.

He is the Gajapati Maharaja, the titular sovereign of Odisha and the hereditary first servant of Lord Jagannath. The ritual is called Chhera Pahanra, and it is the only moment in the Indian calendar where a king publicly performs the work of a sweeper in front of millions of witnesses. He does this on purpose.

https://youtu.be/VzM2H63NSuQ

The whole world watches Rath Yatra, but few know why it happens at all. What is its real significance?

Gajapati Maharaja: The Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath is performed every year in devotional obedience to the divine commandments of Lord Jagannath himself.

When Lord Brahma installed Lord Jagannath in the Adi temple in Purushottam Kshetra Puri, that Adi temple built by Maharaja Indradyumna, Lord Jagannath himself commanded Indradyumna to perform his twelve major festivals during the year. The first one is Snana Yatra and he said that this is the day the Lord manifested, it is his birthday and that is Jyestha Purnima Tithi, so that is celebrated as Snana Yatra.

And then he said that for 15 days no one should have my darshan and thereafter on Ashadha Shukla Paksha Dwitiya Tithi, he would like to visit his birthplace, Gundicha Mandapam and stay there for seven days. And then after that on Dashami Tithi to come back to his main temple Shri Mandira. So this festival is celebrated in obedience to the divine commandments of Lord Jagannath.

The Yatra is performed, is celebrated for his pleasure. And the Lord himself says that this Yatra is for my pleasure.

But if we look at the other side of it, if the Lord is inside the temple everyone cannot have his darshan. He is the Lord of the universe, not only of the human society but of all beings, not only of this planet but of the entire universe. Therefore if he is inside the temple it is not possible.

Throughout the year his Utsava Vigrahas go out. So people have darshan of the Utsava Vigraha but not of the Lord directly, the Chatur Dharu Vigrahas. So to give darshan to the whole world because he is Jagannath, he commanded that he has to be taken on this Yatra so that everyone can have his darshan when he is on the chariot out on the street. So he comes out to give his darshan and for people to seek his grace. The entire humanity has this opportunity and all beings have the opportunity.

So it is a very rare festival and a very rare incident because in Sanatana Vedic Dharma the presiding deities do not come out of the sanctum sanctorum, do not leave the temple after they have been consecrated. But here the presiding deities are taken out because it is the very command of the Lord himself. He is Lord of the universe and he would like everyone to have his darshan and of course he would like to visit his birthplace for seven days. So it is in devotional obedience to his command that this festival is being held.

Devotees know Lord Jagannath. Far fewer understand why the Gajapati Maharaja is revered as Chalanti Vishnu. Could you explain the philosophy?

Gajapati Maharaja: Lord Jagannath is the Supreme Lord, and according to the historical narrations that we have since many, many centuries, the sovereign ruler of Kalinga or Utkal or now Odisha, dedicated themselves as a servant of the Lord. They proclaimed that the Lord Himself is the sovereign, is the real sovereign, the Maharaja, and the ruler is his servant or his Rauta as they call themselves.

And so, the king has to set the example of a Sevak in front of the Lord. So, it is the emotions of the people that they started calling Gajapati as the Chalanti Vishnu, but in reality, the status and the identity of the Gajapati Maharajas is that of a Sevak. And the Chalanti Vishnu or the Chalanti Pratima of Lord Jagannath is Sri Krishna, who is taken out in various festivals in procession out of the temple.

Why has Chhera Pahanra, a king sweeping a floor, remained so central to the Jagannath tradition?

Gajapati Maharaja: Chhera Pahanra as we see it on the television is that the sovereign is performing a ritual with a broom, cleaning the parikrama around the throne of the Lord on the chariot. And then he is sprinkling sandalwood water and dry sandalwood powder on the parikrama.

This is a ritual which has been there for many, many centuries. We do not know when it began. But all the sovereign rulers of Odisha or then Utkal or Kalinga performed this seva.

I suppose to show that we really, all of us, every human being is a servant of the Lord. And the king has to show that real status of the individual in this great festival for everyone to see that our real role in this human life is that of a servant, that is to say serving the Supreme Lord.

When lakhs of people surround you and you are holding that golden broom — do you feel like a king, or do you feel completely invisible before the Lord?

Gajapati Maharaja: As I said, the role of the Gajapati, the position of the Gajapati Maharajas since the beginning is that of a servant of the Lord. As a humble servant serving the Lord with devotion, there has to be no ego of a king and in fact no ego at all if he has to really surrender to the Lord.

Has Lord Jagannath ever surprised you — some moment during a Rath Yatra that stayed with you afterwards?

Gajapati Maharaja: Lord Jagannath is beyond comprehension, beyond our limited intellectual understanding. So, every Ratha Yatra, we find something which we cannot understand. So, basically, the Lord comes out so that devotees from all over the world can come and have His darshan and to seek His grace.

So, we are extremely happy that this year we have many, many devotees. It’s a huge gathering, congregation, right from the day of the beginning of the Yatra, which is Sri Gundicha Yatra on Ashadha Shukla Paksha Tithi, to the return Yatra, which is known as Bahuda Yatra on Dashami Tithi. Countless devotees have come and had His darshan, sought His grace and prayed for the welfare of the whole world.

This year’s Yatra sparked a conversation because Lord Jagannath’s Tahia was absent. Does that carry any significance?

Gajapati Maharaja: There is no such significance that we can attach to it, although this is something that should not have happened.

From what I could understand from discussions with the concerned sevaks on that very day of the incident, which is Sri Gundicha Day, the 16th of this month, the Tahia that was adorning Lord Jagannath was somehow made very ostentatiously and was rather heavy. More heavy than it should be. As a result, the sevaks who were doing the procession, the pahandi as it is called, found it very difficult to bring the Lord in procession with the Tahia, so they had to remove the Tahia.

This is a very surprising thing. The management of course will look into it and we’ll see that such incidents don’t happen in future.

What is the hardest part of holding an ancient tradition together while managing a modern crowd of millions?

Gajapati Maharaja: When thousands and lakhs of devotees gather on the Grand Road of Puri for the Rath Yatra, it is a big challenge for the administration. The crowd is increasing every year. The space of course on the road is limited.

However, the administration is prepared and tries its very best to keep everything in order and the crowd control is properly done so that there is no incident which happens of any injury or any such incident which is harmful to the people.

The temple has handled devotees’ offerings and faith for centuries. What has kept that trust intact across generations?

Gajapati Maharaja: The temple of Lord Jagannath in Puri is unique in the sense that according to the scriptures, the Supreme Lord himself manifested here. Paramatma, Parameshwara, Parambrahma manifested in this Daruvigraha form in the first manvantara of this year of Lord Brahma, the 51st year. Before that they were present as Madhava in the same place but without a temple.

So the scriptures make it clear that the Chaturtha Daruvigrahas, Lord Jagannath are the Supreme Lord and therefore the worship procedures, the various rituals and the various festivals which have been coming down since centuries are those which are befitting the Supreme Lord.

So it is in what I know, what I can gather is one of the most complex ritual systems, one of the most complicated and elaborate traditional seva puja that we can see in any institution around the world. So it is a very difficult, it is a very complicated, complex system to maintain and to perform smoothly.

Finally, what is the one thing about Rath Yatra that the cameras never capture and the public never sees?

Gajapati Maharaja: What we don’t see is the bhav of the devotees. We see the physical scenery; the physical situation is seen, but the subtle bhav, the devotion of the people, they connect between the individual and the Lord, the devotee and the Lord. That inner connect of course is not seen, that is not captured by your televisions.

When the chariots return to Shri Mandira on Bahuda, the ropes will be coiled, the wheels will be taken apart, and the Grand Road will go quiet again for another year. The golden broom will be put away.

What the Gajapati Maharaja describes, in the end, is not a story about a king. It is a story about the one man in Puri who is given the highest seat at the biggest festival on earth — and climbs up there to sweep. “There has to be no ego of a king,” he said, “and in fact no ego at all.“

On a road where lakhs of people come only to be seen by the Lord, that single sentence may be the one that explains everything else.

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