The Temple of Lord Alarnath is in Brahmagiri, around 25 km from the Town of Puri in Orissa. In this temple Lord Vishnu is worshiped as Lord Alarnath. The Deity has four arms. He holds Chakra in his upper right hand, Lotus in his lower right hand, Conch in his upper left hand and Club in his lower left hand. Lord’s idol is made of Black granite stone and is about five and half feet height.
Lord Vishnu’s carrier eagle, known as Garuda, kneels at the feet of the deity with his hands folded in prayer position. The deities of Lord Krishna’s queens Rukmini and Satyabhama are also find inside the temple. The Lord’s consorts Sri and Bhu also accompany Him. According to mythology, the rulers of Alwar in Rajasthan had established the temple here. The temple was later known as Alwarnath or Alarnath. The temple is also associated with the visit of the Alwar saint Ramanujacharya to Orissa.
It is explained that in Satya Yuga, Lord Brahma came and worshiped Lord Vishnu here on top of a hill. One day Lord Vishnu appeared and said, “I am very pleased with your worship. Make a four-armed Deity of Me holding Shankha, Chakra, Gada, and Padma (conch shell, disk, club, and lotus). The Deity should be made from a piece of black stone. Also install a Deity of Garuda”. Lord Vishnu also said, “This place will be called Brahmagiri (Brahma’s hill) because you have worshiped me here”.
The Temple also holds a deity of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in the form of Sad- bhuja, or ‘Six-Armed,’ signifying Lord Chaitanya’s as Lord Krishna, Lord Rama and Lord Gouranga Himself. As Lord Ram his Hand are green in color and he holds an arrow in His Left and bow in His Right Hand. As Lord Krishna His hand are Blue and he holds the Flute and as Lord Gouhari Himself his hands are golden in color and he holds a ‘kamandalu’ or a water pot in his left hand and a ‘Dandi’ in his right hand. There is a stone slab in front of the deity which bears impressions from Lord Chaitanya’s body.
There is a lake behind the temple where Chandan Yatra (Sandalwood Festival is celebrated for 21 days every year. During the Chandan Yatra the Body of Lord Alarnath is smeared and covered with Chandan Pulp. Every year in Puri Lord Jagannatha takes rest in isolation from the rest of the world after suffering from fever due to the annual bathing festival (Snana Yatra). This period is known as ‘Anavasara’ which lasts for fifteen days in the month of ‘Asadh’, June or July in English calendar.
During His stay in Puri, Sriman Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would go to the Temple of Lord Jagannath for Darshan every day. During the time of Anavasara He witnessed pangs of separation on not being able to have Darshan of His beloved Lord. He was greatly aggrieved and decided to jump into the Sea.
It is then that He visualized Lord Jagannath who asked Him to go to Alarnath Temple for His darshan.
Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu went to Alarnath Temple and spent a long time worshiping the deity there. When Lord Chaitanya first lay in full respect in front of Lord Alarnath, the stone below Lord Chaitanya melted from His ecstatic touch. Whenever Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu wanted to be in solitude he would to go Alarnath. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, who was born in Puri, loved Lord Alarnath. He said that the place is the same as Vrindavana and that the small lake there—on whose banks Lord Chaitanya would rest—is the same as Radha-kunda, the most sacred of lakes.
Since the time of Chaitanya Maharabhu’s revelation of Lord Jagannath being present in Alarnath during Anavasara period, every year thousands of devotees visit Alarnath temple to get the blessings of Lord Jagannath who manifest as Lord Alarnath. During the time of Anavasara the temple servitors offer holy rice porridge, known as ‘Khiri’ in local language to the lord. The devotees gather in large numbers to taste and relish a pot of famous holy ‘Kheer’.
The Kheer Bhog is of great significance as it depicts the love and compassion of the Lord for His devotees. Owing to this very Kheer Bhog the Lord developed blister marks on His body. These blister marks are visible on the deity of Lord Alarnath even today. The marks are on the right hand, on the face and on the Chest of the Lord. There is a Legend relating to this and the Porridge or Kheer Bhog offered to the Lord.
As the Legend goes in the long past a poor Tamil Kama Brahmin priest named Sri Ketan served the Lord by begging alms. He had a 12 yr old son named Madhusudan. On one occasion, the priest had to go to a distant place for some time, so he asked His son to serve the Lord and offer ‘Kheer Bhog’. Madhusudan was uncomfortable at this proposition as he did not know the proper rituals to be followed and Mantras to be recited for serving the Lord. He expressed His apprehensiveness to his father. Madhusudan’s father assured him and instructed him to simply offer the Kheer Bhog by placing the bowl in front of the Lord in the temple.
After the departure of his father, Madhusudan was left to serve the Lord all by himself. When the time for Bhog came Madhusudan simply took the bowl of Kheer and placed it before the Lord, with great reverence he prayed to the Lord to accept the Bhog and eat it lest he gets chastised by his father on his return. Placing the bowl of Kheer in front of the Lord Madhusudan closed the door of the sanctum and went out to play with his friends. After sometime Madhusudan returned to the Temple and opened the door of the Sanctum. He was overjoyed to see that the bowl of the Kheer Bhog empty. He returned home with great satisfaction and joy. On arriving home Madhusudan handed over the empty bowl to his mother. The mother was surprised to see the empty bowl and asked Him as to where the Kheer Prasad was as when the father brought back the Bhog bowl it would be full. Madhusudan replied that the Lord had eaten all the Kheer and that nothing was left. Hearing this Madhusudan’s mother became perturbed and a doubt cropped up in her mind.
She thought like this-‘Even though her husband does the offering after this sixteen procedures of Puja, Prasad reaches home in the container, How is it that the Lord ate up and emptied the pot without any utterance of Mantra’ ?
On the second day, the mother watched the offering made by her son through a small hole on the door. To her utter astonishment, she found that the Lord descended from the Singhashan and began eating the Kheer.
After some days when the priest Sriketan returned home his wife told him about the whole episode of the Bhog being offered by Madhusudan. The mind of the Brahmin was filled with suspicion and he accused Madhusudan of being untruthful. Next day the priest asked Madhusudan to prepare the Kheer Bhog and offer it to the Lord to prove his innocence. Madhusudan offered the Kheer to the Lord and prayed to him eat the Bhog to save him from his father’s anger. After offering the Bhog when Madhusudan brought the bowl of Kheer out it was empty. The Brahmin was astonished and disturbed to see this and becoming anxious he again asked Madhusudan to prepare the Kheer and offer it to the Lord. Fearful of his father Madhusudan followed his instruction and offered the Kheer Bhog even though it was very hot.
The father then watched through the hole the offering of ‘Kheer’ made by his son to the Lord and was amazed to see the Lord part taking ‘Kheer’. To prove the truth, innocence and simplicity of the boy the Lord started eating the ‘Kheer’ even through it was too hot. While the Lord was in the state of eating the hot ‘Kheer’ the Brahmin opened the door and as a result the hot Kheer spilled over the body of the Lord which left these blister marks on the body of the Lord. The Lord bore the burn marks as symbol of love for His devotee Madhusudan.
Priest Sriketan implored to the Lord if you eat away all the ‘Prasads’ how will we live? The Lord replied “I ate up the Naivedya’ as the boy offered it with love and I appear before you also because of the boy’s love and reverence. The Lord asked the priest to beg Him for a Boon. But the priest instead of listening to the Lord went on repeating his question. As a consequence the Lord got annoyed and cursed him to be extirpated along with his clan. He took Madhusudan, his dear devotee to Vaikuntha, the holy aboard of The Lord Himself.
After this event, due to the absence of priest the Lord remained unworshiped for several years. When Gajapati Maharaja Sri Purusottam Dev was returning home after his Victorious Kanchi campaign, he visited the Lord and got to know about the plight of the temple. He made the arrangement for his Puja by sending two Brahmin families from Bashista Gotra and one family from Bharadwaja Gotra. These three Brahmin families carried on the Puja of the Lord according to the scriptures. The king made all arrangements for the maintenance of the servitors. The Progenitors of these three families are carrying on the Pooja system with pomp and ceremony to this day.
Ms.Mriganka Mahanti, Editor Niladri Bihar.
