Chariot Of Lord Baladevjew Kendrapada: Race on to finish chariot of Lord Baladevjew | Bhubaneswar News
Kendrapada: Construction of the 65-feet high and 14-wheel chariot for the annual car festival of Baladevjew Temple at Ichapur is moving at a snail’s pace due to delay in procuring wood from the forest department.
“The construction of the three chariots in Puri started on Akshay Trutiya on May 10. But we started construction only on June 20 after getting 416 cubic feet of sal wood from the Keonjhar forest division.We are also using timber from the old chariot to build some portions of the rath,” said Balabhadra Patri, executive officer of Baladevjew Temple.
“Around 50 carpenters are busy building the chariot on a war-footing. All the artisans are determined to complete the work before Rath Yatra on July 7,” he added.
Saroj Moharana (55) has three decades of experience in chariot-making. “I learnt the art from my father Nagendra and grandfather Chittaranjan. My two sons are also involved in chariot work,” he said. “Four decades ago, over 40 families were making chariots. Today, the number has gone down to around 20 ,” said Mahendra Moharana (56), another carpenter of Ichapur.
“The present Baladevjew Temple was built by the king of Kujang, Raja Gopal Sandha, at Ichapur in 1761,” said Basudev Das, a Kendrapada-based researcher.
“The construction of the three chariots in Puri started on Akshay Trutiya on May 10. But we started construction only on June 20 after getting 416 cubic feet of sal wood from the Keonjhar forest division.We are also using timber from the old chariot to build some portions of the rath,” said Balabhadra Patri, executive officer of Baladevjew Temple.
“Around 50 carpenters are busy building the chariot on a war-footing. All the artisans are determined to complete the work before Rath Yatra on July 7,” he added.
Saroj Moharana (55) has three decades of experience in chariot-making. “I learnt the art from my father Nagendra and grandfather Chittaranjan. My two sons are also involved in chariot work,” he said. “Four decades ago, over 40 families were making chariots. Today, the number has gone down to around 20 ,” said Mahendra Moharana (56), another carpenter of Ichapur.
“The present Baladevjew Temple was built by the king of Kujang, Raja Gopal Sandha, at Ichapur in 1761,” said Basudev Das, a Kendrapada-based researcher.
We also published the following articles recently
