Nagarjuna is celebrating Besa in the epidemic year
Devotees of Lord Jagannath and Lord Balabhadra are about to miss the much awaited space of Nagarjuna Besh.
Different | 3 minute reading | 02-11-2020
Rom: Srinivasan
Even though people are thinking about how to celebrate upcoming festivals amidst the risk of coronavirus epidemic and virus infection, devotees of Lord Jagannath and Lord Balabhadra are missing the much-awaited great skin of Nagarjuna Besh.
‘Nagarjuna Besha’ is an annual celebration held at the Puri Jagannath Temple. Legend has it that Lord Jagannath and Lord Balabhadra on a particular day marked the victory of good over evil and hunting for hunting.
Authorities are now preparing for the festivities scheduled for November 2, when two gods will symbolically give the warrior a uniform. The three deities of the Jagannath temple – Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra – are believed to present themselves in different forms or ‘beshas’ at different times of the year. All three have been honored for a long time.
The festival has a huge religious symbol for the people.
The iconic Jagannath Temple is an important Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Jagannath, the incarnation of Lord Vishnu at Puri, Orissa. The present structure was rebuilt on the site of the former temple from the 10th century. The original temple was built by Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva, the first king of the East Ganga dynasty.
Stone and metal icons are not found in most Hindu temples, the idol of Lord Jagannath is made of wood and is officially replaced by an appropriate replica every 12 or 19 years. It is one of the char dhams; Others are Badrinath, Dwarka and Rameshwaram.
This celebration of Nagarjuna Besh is special as it is celebrated only in those years where the last five days of the holy month of Kartik ‘Panchak’ are celebrated for six days. This will happen after a gap of 26 years. It was previously celebrated on November 26, 1963, November 26, 1966, November 16, 1967 and November 3, 1968. The last Nagarjuna was observed on November 1, 1994.
It is known that this Nagarjun celebration is more reminiscent of the assassination of Shahasarjun by Parashuram. On October 2 of this year, the shrine administration conducted an internal ceremony to begin preparations for the celebration.
The legend behind the celebration is fascinating. Kartyavera Arjuna was one of the many kings killed by Lord Parasurama. Although he was of divine teaching origin, he was endowed with power and therefore had to be brought down for good deeds. According to the tradition in Vaishnavism, this celebration basically marks the end of Arjuna, the ‘good to evil’, the karteva of Lord Parasurama.
The reason behind calling Lord Parasurama Nagarjuna may be because he conquered Arjuna.
In all Vaishnava temples, there is an incident of Lord going hunting on one of the days of Brahmotsab. In other words, it is called ‘Paribettai’ meaning that the Lord is going to hunt in the forest to defeat some evil force.
Temple authorities are working to celebrate the Lords’ clothing and weapons for the gods.
The gods will play the wide headgear and play the role of arrows, bows, plows, wheels and donkeys.
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