By BISWARAJ PATTNAIK, July 26, 2015 : The Nabakalebara event between ‘Banajaga jatra’ and ‘Brahma transfer’ went too shabbily only due to the arrogance and ignorance of the Daitas and the SJTA chief administrator alike.

Once upon a time in the past, as the district magistarte of Puri, the incumbent chief administrator has done a pass-enough job because then there was no scope for any vulgar display of the divinely secret rituals of the Deities.

There was television in 1996 but no mad frenzy of the current times due to media hype encouraged and promoted by the Government authorities who believed the opportunity was just too rare to attract even the Eskimos to rush in by showcasing the event loudly. They imagined Odisha would then become a most desired global tourist destination. Nothing of that sort ever occured, or will, because the very approach was grounded on a ‘single faith’ mode, which is constitutionally wrong.

All that the state could have publicised even insanely is the superb arrangement to contain huge congregations and maintain law and order. The SJTA chief administrator got swayed in the move and did precious little to keep ‘secret rituals’ secret. He himself went ahead most brazenly to wrap around a Daru tree the silk cloth as if he were a servitor. He did not even make it clear to public that it’s not daitas but a Brahmin servitor ‘Pati Mahapatra’ is entitled to transfer the ‘Brahma material’ from the old bodies to the new. Daitas never took the expected arduous journey in seeking the sacred Neem tree. They reveled in their Sabarpallis as Arab emirs in luxury tents, enjoyed joy rides in expensive cars, ate grand food and dozed when women massaged their never – tired bodies. SJTA job began with Banajaga Jayra and ended with BAHMA transfer, all of which was so terribly messed up that the people who worshipped daitas days before, burnt their effigies in public.

The Puri district administration was invariably alert to all the hurtful events happening around. The DM and SP supported by the Sub collector and the Municipal functionaries took all preventive measures to have the public in cheers. Though much in a hurry, the temple surrounding is incredibly spacious; the roads are encroachment-free; and above all during the car festival the frèe rest sheds and food counters have amazed the pilgrims with unheard of joy.

District magistrate, Arvind Agrawal looks timid and SP Ashish Singh small in stature, but the way they handled Nabakalebara event has stunned even the experienced officials who came from ‘Nasik Kumbh mela’ for exposure. On close enquiry, all of them said “Great job! Couldn’t have been better. We are carrying back the techniques of suddenly swelling crowd at a relatively small space.” Thus the infamy earned during the ‘Brahma transfer’ event has been nearly wiped out by the District administration of Puri. The number of visitors remains an enigma. One media house puts the figure at 15 lakh while another says not more than ten lakh. There was no mechanism in place to come up with the accurate figure, people who kept count on the thumb-rule technique, have mentioned 15 lakhs(one and a half million) is nearer the truth.

Nabakalebara festival is virtually over with hatred for the daitas backed by an ignorant administrator who, we are told, is trying to prove that all good things happened because of him and the bad ones due to the incapable district administration. But the people know the truth already.