Khordha: The family of Rajkishore Nayak of Gurujanga Bhoi Sahi in Khordha district has a unique relationship with the world famous annual Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath and His Siblings at Puri.
The family supplies a variety of sebati (chrysanthemum) and Kadamba (Neolamarckia cadamba) flowers crafted out of ‘shola’, the white soft core obtained from the stem of the plant with the same name (also known as Indian Cork; scientific name Aeschynomene aspera) for decorating the three chariots-Nandighosha, Taladhwaja and Darpa Dalana.
The family has been supplying shola flowers for the three chariots for the last 19 years. In 2004, Rajkishore sought permission from the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) to decorate the three chariots with shola flowers.
And on getting SJTA’s permission, since then Rajkishore’s family has been uninterruptedly supplying shola flowers every year for decorating the three chariots. The family does it for free out of bhakti for Lord Jagannath and charges no remuneration.
“Lord Jagannath is the Lord of the universe. What service can I a mere mortal deliver to Him? Therefore, we don’t want to lose whatever little opportunity we have got to serve Him. We first got this opportunity to serve the Lord in 2004. We are authorised by the temple administration to supply shola flowers for the three chariots. Since then we have been supplying shola flowers for the chariots without charging any remuneration and shall do so till there is life in our bodies,” said an emotionally charged Rajkishore Nayak.
Come auspicious Akshaya Tritiya, every member of Rajkishore’s family after performing a pooja of the knives and other tools used in the craft gets busy in making shola flowers for the three chariots.
The family collects the stem of shola plant (Aeschynomene aspera) from marshy water bodies of Puri, Nimapara, Kakatpur, Banki, Gop, Kanas, etc during the Hindu month of Kartik (November-December) season it by drying in sun and keeping in dew.
“We have been doing this since we were kids. It was my uncle who wished to decorate the chariots with shola flowers. My uncle and grandfather have been crafting flowers made of shola and supplying the same for the three chariots as a service to the Lord,” said Manini Nayak, a family member of Rajkishore.
Rajkishore’s family members wear new clothes and maintain religious austerity while carving out flowers out of shola. To make these flowers more attractive they use ‘chumki’ and ‘mina’.
Today on the occasion of Netra Utsav, Rajkishore and his family members decorated the three chariots- Nandighosha, Taladhwaja and Darpa Dalana with the shola flowers crafted by them.
