On the eve of Nabakalebara Rath Yatra 2015 a commemorative stamp on Nabakalebara 2015 was released by The Indian Post. This event happened on 17th July, 2015.
According to ‘Nabakalebara Bidhanm’ God himself has told – ‘even though I am Purnabrahma, free from birth and re-birth, I am your God, I am not separate from you, it is a fact, as if a Jiva worn-out his body and enters into another body afresh, I also exactly follow the same procedure, because I am not separate from the Jiva’.
Nabakalebara is a festival observed in the Shree Jagannath Temple at Puri at a predefined time according to Hindu Calender. Naba means new and Kalebara is body. Lord Shree Jagannath adorns a new body during Nabakalebara. It is the re-embodiment of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Sudarshan when they relinquish their old bodies and assume a new one.
However, the Brahmapadartha (soul-substance) remains the same. The soul or the Brahma is transferred from the old idols to their new bodies in a highly technical and conspicuous manner prescribed and inherited from generations by the Daitas and the Rakshaks.
They are the up-keepers of the Shreeangas or the bodies of the trinity of the Grand Temple. The Deities are made from a special type of Neem wood known as Daru Bramha. Preparations for the ceremony start in the month of Chaitra.
A year with an extra month (Adhika masa / Ashadha masa) as per Hindu calendar is considered auspicious for conducting the Nabakalebara ceremony. This usually occurs every twelve to nineteen years. Most of the Nabakalebars are performed after a gap of almost 19 years as in 1912, 1931, 1950, 1969, 1977 and 1996. Nabakalebara 2015 celebration was started from 29th March with Banajaga Yatra (search for timber for the formation of the new idols of deities) and will conclude with Rathayatra followed Sunabesa (adorning the new images of gods with golden attire) on 27th July, with many other rituals being held in between on specific dates.
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