In Lord Jagannath's Abode in Odisha

In Lord Jagannath's Abode in Odisha

As i go past Bali Sahi in Lord Jagannath's Abode, the past few days spent here have been complimented with a query on what prevented me from coming to this place for the past two years. It was September 2009 when i visited Lord Jagannath's home for the first time with a seven-day stay split between two adjoining hotels, chandrama and anjaana, on Gopal Ballav Road. Over a dozen times i would have gone past Gopal Ballav Road, turning right to Gopabandhu Chowk, turning left towards Mochi Sahi Square which finally takes you to Dolamandap Sahi (Temple Road). The walk from Gopal Ballav Road to Lord Jagannath's temple would be under 2kms but enough to turn you down for a while before you started again. September was sultry strong and enough thoughts went into before you tried to step out in late afternoon. Howsoever strong the rush may be inside the temple the happiness quotient visible here has fewer comparables across country.

This time December has been pleasantly cool; and all of a sudden on the last Saturday of the year the humid conditions began to make their way. Post prasadam meals from the temple - for the days stationed here at least once is a must - as i stepped out to go for my routine coffee from a makeshift camp run by a tea/coffee vendor opposite Sea View Hotel i come across sweets and medical centres like Rathi Sweets, Bhai Bhai Sweets and Jagannath Homoeo Sadan on Bali Sahi Road. Further down the road there is Tri Shakti Club, Sri Sri Batalokanath Temple and Radha Ramana Bastralaya. It is just few metres before the road is to merge with the one facing the sea, Swargadwar, there is a tall red structure , Pranavananda Seva Niketan Bharat Sevashram Sangha. It houses accommodation facility. In proximity is the cultural centre and a free reading room. Well no one could be sighted manning the desk either at Accommodation Centre or Free Reading Room as the one supposed to answer queries was expected in the evening.

Prior to visiting the Pranavananda Seva Niketan, i visited the makeshift camp and the vendor was kind enough to hand me a strong coffee. On most of the occasions you come across vendors who outright reject the request for a special tea/coffee. The coffee i took was opposite Sea View hotel Sea Beach, established 1931. Establishment of this Sea View Hotel in 1931 suggests the foresight of the gentleman to raise a structure when India's very freedom story was far from reaching a stage of complete success. 1931 was the year and establishment done under the cloud of colonial fear. The Sea View would have lost count of the number of tourists it would have accommodated and got separated over the years. The other day while i was standing opposite this structure i saw uncountable number of empty beer bottles being loaded by a scrap dealer on his van; and this suggested despite the weather being temperamentally cool the visitors tend to have their share to keep their temperament under check. THe solitary Abode of Lord Jagannath has a Solitary Sea to its credit and solitary may be the numbers here and there who would be taking beer to be in fighting gear.

There are other hotels as well facing the sea and i did not venture out to update myself with the tariff turnaround they have witnessed. It would be nonsensical to get the tariff update when one does not intend to stay on this side of the city. One thing was for sure : Most of the crowd (comprising family) thronging to this place was cultured and not economical with truth. As for the seashore the surge of humanity was to be seen to be believed and as i stood there i was reminded of Marina beach in Chennai and the sole visit i undertook on a Sunday morning when the rush was palpably low.


On the return journey to Grand Road via Bali Sahi i come across Panda Communication, coming with the facilities of Rail, Air reservation, internet , xerox. Inside the doors are locked. Further away is Jagatguru Ramanuja Acharya Ki Digbijaya Peetha (Ramanuja Kota). What one can see are bushes inside and i don't venture further on this one. A few metres away is Students Point- education-cum-fashion, with the underlining message that all recharge coupons are available here.