Bhubaneswar: The ritual Chhera Pahanra is performed by the Puri king every year during the Rath Yatra. Chhera Panhara is an Odia word denoting sweeping and sprinkling holy water. After the idols of the lords are installed on their respective chariots, the king sweeps the chariots of the Lords with a golden broom. Subsequently, he worships the Lord by performing an aarati after which the holy journey starts.
This ritual is performed to show the devotion of the head of the state to the Lord. It is an ancient ritual but with the passage of time, the ritual has changed. Earlier, the king used to sweep the street before the chariots rolled out and preceded the chariots. With time the ritual has changed and now the king sweeps the chariots only.
There is an interesting story behind the ritual. According to legend, years ago a King of Puri, Purusottama Dev, was to marry a princess who was the daughter of King Maharaja Sallwo Narasingha from the Kanchi district. When the Ratha Yatra festival was to take place, the father of the princess was invited.
But the king didn’t come instead he sent his minister. When he attended Rath Yatra, the King of Puri was performing Chhera Panhara. The minister, rather than being impressed with the devotion of the King to Lord Jagannath, did not approve of him sweeping the road.
When he reported this to King Sallwo Narasingha, the king objected to the idea of his daughter marrying the King of Puri since he was merely a street sweeper. Purusottama Dev on learning this got angry and thought of teaching a lesson. So he attacked Kanchi but was badly defeated.
On his way back to Puri, the king stopped at the cottage of Saikatacharya, a devotee of Lord Jagannath. Saikatacharya pointed out that the king had forgotten to ask permission from Lord Jagannath before attacking King Sallwo. With this realisation, the king returned to Puri and visited the temple of the Lord. He spent the night in the temple, and with doors closed. Before the night came to an end, the king heard a voice asking why he was so distraught over such a simple thing. The voice said to go gather his troupes again, and that we two brothers, Jagannatha and Balarama, would go along to fight on the king’s behalf. As the news spread, many people, both old and young, joined the king’s forces to fight with their Lords. However, as they went, the king was filled with some doubts if it was going to be true or just an illusion.
While the king and his army went onward, far ahead were two soldiers that rode on one black horse and one white horse. They stopped to quench their thirst at a small village near Chilika Lake by buying some yogurt from a devotee named Manika. She offered them yogurt, but when she asked for money, they said they had no money. Instead, they gave her a jeweled ring and told her to give it to King Purusottama Dev, who would then give her money.
After some time, the king caught up to the lady, who flagged him down to give him the ring and asked for money for the soldiers’ drink. The king was shocked to see the ratnamudrika ring of Lord Jagannath and then regained his confidence that indeed their Lordships had certainly come with him. In payment for the ring, the king gave her the whole village, which is still named Manikapatna. After this, the king and his troupes were victorious over King Sallwo, and he also took King Sallwo’s daughter as well.
However, he did not marry her because her father had after the insult her father had given him. He instructed his minister to see that she got married to a qualified sweeper. After one year, at the next Ratha-Yatra, the King again performed his sweeping ceremony. At that time, the king’s minister announced that the king was the most qualified sweeper since he swept for Lord Jagannath and that the princess, Padmavati, should marry him. Then Maharaja Purusottama Dev married the princess. At some point after this, the King of Puri discontinued sweeping the streets and now sweeps the carts.
