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| Changing Puri temple flag odishabytes.com |
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| Holy flag of Puri Jagannath temple,gejuff.com |
At the world famous and ancient tJagannath temple of Puri town of Odisha, there are many strange religious rituals inherent to this ancient temple, among them one being the arduous daily ritual of changing the temple's holy temple flag (Patita Pavana Bana) atop the tall tower. This practice has been in vogue for centuries. None of the Hindu temple across India follows this sacred ritual. The triangular flag, measuring around 20 feet, is made of red, yellow, or white cloth and features symbols of the sun and moon. It is fixed to the sacred Nila Chakra — a large blue disc made of eight metals (ashta-dhatu) and adorned with eight nava-kunjaras (elephants), all facing the flagpole.
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| Puri temple's holy flag in.pinterest.com |
The belief has been that viewing the flag and chakra from the ground is akin to a direct darshan of Lord Jagannath (Gopura Darshanam.The The flag is reverently stitched each day by a male member of the Chola family.
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| Flag and flag pole, Kerala Hindu temple wikiwand.com |
Above image: Vazhappally Maha Siva Temple ,Kerala state, South India.......
In South India, flags are hoisted only during festivals on a tall flagstaff (Dwajasthambam) facing the sanctum, as per Agama Shastra. However, in Puri, the ritual is daily and involves scaling the 215-ft tall Shikara of the main shrine - equivalent to a 25-storey building. Only the temple priests have the rights to do this holy ritual and they hail from a particular sevayat (servitor) family, with hereditary rights granted around 800 years ago. They are allowed to perform this high-risk task with solid training before their debut. This astonishing, but dangerous ritual called Chunara Seva is performed every single day. Mind you, it is not a volunteer work. It is a hereditary responsibility or rather a compelling burden passed on from father to son. Only a select families are trained for the climb on the tall tower.
These Chuna Garuda Sevaks begin their training at the age of 10–12 to conquer fear and master the climb. Barefoot and without any harness or external support, they ascend the tower swiftly using bare hands, with multiple flags tied around their waists. As they climb, they chant “Jai Jagannath” to stay focused and calm.
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| Jagannath temple,Puri,en.wikipedia.org |
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| Puri temple's holy flag, Odisha holidify.com |
Above image: Sri Jagannath temple of Puri town, Odisha: The strange fact is unlike common flags that fly following the direction of the wind, the holy flag flies in the opposite direction to the wind's course. No scientific explanation is available. In this hallowed land steeped in devotion and ancient mysticism, both the daily climb by the priests and the direction of the flag in the wind continues to baffle visitors and scholars alike...........
About this ritual no scriptures mention it, nor do historians confirm about the ritual or its unbroken continuity. To the devotees it is not a normal flag. The daily flag atop the temple tower is seen as a lifeline between Lord Jagannath and his followers. Without it his blessings will stop and some kind of strange fear may descend. No doubt it holds significant religious and cultural importance. In the face of powerful cyclone or heavy rains or sunshine, the climb does not stop. This daily ritual during the climb is protected by what many people claim divine dispensation of the god. After 'Fani' cyclone (during the NE monsoon ) in the past (2019) that had damaged the flag, revised schedule came into effect: the flag is submitted by 3 PM and hoisted by 4 PM
The interrupted record of climb is the guidance of divine power, however the trust in god has made the servitors perform this daily difficulty ritual as a sort of religious service to god (kaienkarya), but for us it is a source of anxiety and concern, as one one wants to be the first one to fail.
It has been a practice in the temple to sell the sacred flag - holy flag ‘Patitapaban Bana’after the ‘Olagi’ (flag changing) ritual. Any devotee present in the temple campus can purchase it. The new cost of the flag will be around Rs.300.
https://www.holidify.com/pages/jagannath-puri-temple-facts-60.html
