Bhubaneswar: The full moon day of holy month of Shravan is celebrated as Raksha Bandhan and this coincides with Gamha Purnima, the birthday of Lord Balabhadra, the older sibling of Lord Jagannath.
Lord Balabhadra or Balaram was born on Shravanā nakshatra’s ‘Gamha Purnami on Makara Lagna.
Lord Balabhadra is hailed as Haladhara, the one who carries the plough as his weapon, and on this day, all the domesticated cows and bullocks are decorated and worshipped. Pithas and mithas (cakes and sweets) are made and distributed within families, relatives and friends.
RITUALS AT PURI JAGANNATH TEMPLE
At Shree Jagannath Temple in Odisha’s pilgrim town of Puri, all the six idols (Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra, Sudarshan, Bhudebi and Sridebi) on Ratnabedi are bejewelled with gold ornaments on this day. The Lords are also offered ‘Guamala’ (garland of areca nuts).
Along with the 54 areca nuts necklaces, four big rakhis are prepared for Lord Jagannath and Balabhadra and 10 small ones for the Parswa Devatas (minor deities) of the temple. The Basunga Pata is dipped in red, green, purple and yellow colours. With the help of a comb, the cloth is shredded into threads. With the four coloured Patas, the servitors then make four-layered Rakhis. They are in concentric circles one atop another with the lowest disc being the largest.
Goddess Subhadra ties these ‘Pata Rakhis’ prepared by Patara Bisoyi to Her brothers.
The servitors prepare Guamala in yellow and red colour combination for Lord Jagannath and purple and blue colour combination for Lord Balabhadra.
Later, Lord Sudarshan proceeds to Markand Pond in ‘chaudola’ decorated with golden garlands, where Sudha Suara observe some traditions by making the idol of Lord Balabhadra with wet clay. They spew life into the idol by chanting mantras and then offer ‘bhog’. The idol is later immersed in the pond. Following this, Lord Sudarshan proceeds to three Ashrams and returns to Srimandir late in the night.
THE GAMHA JUMP
In Paralakhemundi, Nayagarh an other parts, Lord Balabhadra’s birthday is celebrated through a popular game known as Gamha-Diyan (The Gamha Jump).
Before the auspicious day, the Gamha (platform) is made of bricks, mud and grass. The middle of the platform is filled with stones to make it strong enough. It is made high upwards and low downwards making the shape of a spur. Its top looks like a tower. A short distance from the top of the Gamha, two poles are dug in opposite direction, which are connected with a bamboo stick tied to both the poles. In the bamboo stick various fruits like oranges, bananas, coconuts etc. are tied very carefully. The people one by one come with a run from the downward of the Gamha, and on reaching the top, give a jump to catch the fruits. One who touches a fruit gets an attractive prize.
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