Brahmagiri: Devotees have started to make a beeline for Alarnath temple, 23 km away from Puri, after the sibling deities of Shree Jagannath Temple fell sick and retired to ‘Anasara Ghara’ on Saturday.
Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra were taken ill after the ceremonial bath on Snana Purnima and are under the care of the Raja Vaidya (physician) for 13 days as per the traditions and rituals on the premises of the 12th-century shrine in the pilgrim town of Puri.
During the ‘Anasar’ ritual, this small temple at Brahmagiri become a place of pilgrimage with the belief that Lord Jagannath manifests in the form of Lord Alarnath during this period and His darshan brings some fortune and well being. Sri Chaitanya Dev, the founder of Krishna cult, too had elaborately mentioned in his writings that he visualised manifestation of Lord Jagannath in Alarnath while camping here along with his followers in 1610 AD.
Along with Lord Alarnath, the devotees also offer prayers to Lord Ananta Basudev and Devi Bhubaneswari, considered as incarnations of Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra. The idols of Lord Dolagobinda, Lord Nrusingha, Lord Madanmohan, Lord Rama, Lord Krishna, Goddess Bhudevi, Goddess Sridevi and the 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu are also worshipped at the Alarnath peeth.
Distribution of ‘kheer bhog’, which is prepared with buffalo milk and blended with other ingredients, and cooked ‘prasad’ at the temple, also attracts scores of pilgrims.
Meanwhile, adequate arrangements have been made at Alarnath to ensure smooth ‘darshan’ of the deity.
LEGENDS
Lord Brahma came down to this place and worshipped Lord Vishnu. Pleased with his devotion, Lord Vishnu asked him to carve out a four-handed deity of black stone, carrying a sankha, chakra, gada and padma in each hand. The hill was called Brahmagiri since Brahma had worshipped him there.
The temple is believed to have been built by the rulers of Alwar, Rajasthan; hence the name Alwarnath or Alarnath.
In around 1610 AD, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu visited Puri was unable to have darshan of the sibling deities since they were recuperating at the Anasara Ghar. It was the that Lord came in the saint’s dream and directed him to the Alarnath temple.
On reaching Brahmagiri, he could see Lord Jagannath in the black idol of Vishnu. As he did a sastang pranam (full body on the floor), the stone underneath melted. The stone bearing the body impressions of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu can still be found today.
