“At the beginning of winter, there is a ceremony known as the Odana-sasthi. This ceremony indicates that from that day forward, a winter covering should be given to Lord Jagannatha.”(Cc Madhya 16.78Purport) Odana-Sasti in Rajapur is a joyous celebration. Most devotees arrived at Rajapur’s Jagannatha temple around 11:00am. After taking Darshan of Their Lordships Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra, devotees started a sweet kirtan.

After raja bhoga offering (lunch), more and more devotees were coming.The festival atmosphere was built up and the kirtan turned to be very ecstatic. A lot of devotees were dancing as the arati was going on at the same time. Their Lordships looked very special today.

Odana Sasti Festival Picture Gallery here

LordJagannatha and Lord Baladeva are wearing starched clothes. The color is dark cream. I heard from the Bengali tailor in Deity’s sewing room that this type of dhoti is only for marriage. So you can imagine how happy They are in such ecstatic outfits. Subhadra devi is wearing a pink starched sari. All of them are revealing big smiles and thus giving blessings to all the devotees taking Darshan there. After noon time arati, there is half an hour left for lectures.

His Grace Jannanivas Prabhu introduced this festival. He mentioned this festival was related to Pundarika Vidyanidhi. Pundarika Vidyanidhi is very dear to Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu used to address him with deep affection as “Pundarika, father, Pundarika, father.”

Then His Holyness Kadamba Kanana Maharaja gave us the whole story about Pundarika Vidyanidhi. On the day of Odana-sasthi, Pundarika Vidyanidhi saw the festival. When he saw Lord Jagannatha was given a starched garment, he became unhappy. Usually before we offer any cloth to the Lord, we should wash it first in order to remove all the starch. Therefore, Pundarika Vidyanidhi thought the Pujaris neglected to wash the cloth. That night, Lord Jagannatha and Lord Baladeva came to him and began to slap him. The next morning his face was swollen so he didn’t attend mangla arati. Later on, Swarupa Damodar came to visit him and found out what was happening.

Next, His Grace Jannanivas Prabhu requested His Grace Pankajanghri Prabhu to tell us another slapping story. This happened in Rajapur’s Jagannatha temple. There was a Muslim who threw away Lord Jagannatha’s Maha Prasadam given by his friend. However, next day he came with some items of worship. He gave the items to Lord Jagannatha’s pujari and humbly asked for some yesterday’s Maha Prasadam. The pujari was very surprised. He then revealed what happened to him last night. He said the white one (Baladeva) was jumping on him, slapping him and strangling him. He couldn’t breathe. The white one wanted to kill him because he didn’t respect Lord Jagannatha’s Prasadam. The yellow one (Subhadra) was laughing and saying ‘kill him. Kill him.’The black one was also laughing but saying ‘don’t kill him.’ All the devotees were mesmerized by the vivid narration of His Grace Pankajanghri Prabhu,especially the students from Mayapur Academy. For most of them, this is the first time to hear such pastimes. And imagine how ecstatic it is to hear this right in front of the same Lordships.

Next speaker was His Holiness Jayadvaita Maharaja. Continued with the point of Pundarika Vidyanidhi’s criticizing mentality, Maharaja explained how we should never criticize the devotees, especially pujaris. Even if you do want to criticize others, Maharaja suggests that you’d better keep it in mind, at least don’t say it. In fact, if we really have the urge to criticize others, we should choose the right target, like material scientists, politicians, attached materialists. We can criticize the way of material life. We can say it loud, say it again and again and say it throughout the year. At one o’clock sharp, Maharaja ended his lecture.

Then a devotee from Malaysia offered a Bharatanatyam dance to Lord Jangannatha accompanied by traditional south Indian music! This type of dance is especially offered to the deities. The dancing prabhu’s performance is very professional. The grace, tenderness and sculpturesque poses manifested in the dance amazed both Their Lordships and all the devotees present. Everyone got a Jagannatha face—-with eyes wide open! No need to mention how happy are Their Lordships Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra! They are simply smiling and smiling. And they blessed all the devotees with Lord Jagannatha’s Maha Prasadam!