With the historic Jagannath Ratha Yatra festival just around the corner, Puri is gearing up to welcome over a million pilgrims again after two years of COVID-related curbs.
The Odisha government claims to have ensured all safety protocols in the run-up to Rath Yatra. Security agencies are conducting mock drills to prepare for any eventuality and Indian Railways will be running 205 special trains on July 1 for the pilgrims.
Meanwhile, the spotlight is back again on the most important man of this yatra — Gajapati Maharaja Divyasingha Deva.
Also read: Jagannath Rath Yatra 2022: Railways announces 205 special trains; check list and schedule
Who is Divyasingha Deva?
The incumbent King of Puri, Dibyasingha Deb, known by the symbolic regnal title as Gajapati Maharaja Divyasingha Deva IV, is in office for over five decades now.
He ascended the throne in 1970 at age 17, when he was still a student at St Stephens College, just after the death of his father. He got an LLB degree from the Law Faculty at the University of Delhi and an LLM from the North-Western University of Law, Chicago. He took a new titular name, leaving behind his original name, Jenamani Kamarnaba Deba.
He is the eldest son of King Birakishor Deb and Queen Suryamani Pata Mahadei, who ascended the throne on the same day his father Gajapati Birakishor Deb died during the Rath Yatra in 1970.
The current king was recently in news for reportedly being upset because the Guinness Book of World Records had declared a 72-ft chariot in Keonjhar district as the tallest.
"As per the tradition, no chariot should be constructed above the height of the chariots of Puri Jagannath temple," Deb told the media in Puri.
Also read: Odisha: Jagannath Rath Yatra to be held today amid COVID-19 protocols, no devotees allowed
What is his importance in Rath Yatra?
The king of Puri being the chief religious functionary of the temple is the de-facto chairman of the Shri Jagannatha Temple Managing Committee of the temple constituted by the government under the Shri Jagannath Temple Act of 1955. He is also the current adhyasevaka (known as the first and foremost servitor) of Lord Jagannatha.
The Puri king is also regarded as the first servitor of the sibling deities Jagannath, Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra in the city.
One of the most important duties of Gajapati Maharaja Divyasingha Deva is to perform the iconic ‘Chhera Pahara’ — a ritual involved in this procession, in which the king cleans the three chariots with a golden-handled broom and sandalwood-scented water before the start of the yatra.
The chariots are pulled only after the Chhera Pahara ritual is performed.
Two years ago, Maharaja Divyasingha Deva skipped the Chhera Pahara ritual during the first lockdown citing COVID-19 guidelines restricting people above 65 years of age from venturing out of their homes. This was only the second time in his five-decade tenure that he was unable to perform this puja — the first time being in 1976 when he was busy with his studies in the US.
