The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c17.s1.304

v2.c17.s1.304

The images are brought to the car in the afternoon, not by the priests as stated by Stirling⁷¹, but by a set of aboriginal men called Daityas or barbarians, to which class this office has belonged from time immemorial, it being believed that they are the descendants of the fowler Viśvāvasu. The small one is brought on the shoulders of the carriers and the other two dragged each by a silken rope tied to the waist, the priests holding the images so as to prevent their falling flat on the ground. The use of the silken rope, it is said, was introduced by Pratāpa Narasiṃha Deva. An inclined plane is used to lift the images on the cars and this duty is also performed by the Daityas. When the images have been seated on their thrones in their respective cars, they are richly dressed and ornamented for the occasion and provided with golden hands and feet. After this the Rājā of Khurdā comes in a large procession, with led horses, elephants, palankins and other paraphernalia. When about a hundred yards in front of the foremost car, he descends from his vehicle and walks barefoot, and, as the hereditary sweeper of the temple, sweeps the ground before the cars with a jewelled broom and worships the images in due form with flowers and incense. Then descending from the last car he successively holds the cables attached to the three cars and emblematically drags them, the actual operation of dragging being afterwards performed by a body of 4,200 coolies, called Kālābetiyās, who enjoy rent-free lands in the neighbouring villages for this service. They are largely assisted by the immense concourse of pilgrims, every one of whom longs to have the supreme felicity of dragging the cars and thereby rend asunder the bonds of sin for ever and many of whom do gratify their desire. The progress of the cars is thus described by Mr. Stirling: ‘The joy and shouts of the crowd on their first movements, the creaking sound of the wheels as these ponderous machines roll along, the clatter of hundreds of harsh-sounding instruments and the general appearance of so immense a mass of human beings, produce, it must be acknowledged an astounding and somewhat picturesque effect, whilst the novelty of the scene lasts, though the contemplation of it cannot fail of exciting the strongest sensations of pain and disgust in the mind of every Christian spectator'⁷². Notwithstanding, however, the large number of men employed—owing to want of proper supervision—the cars move very slowly and three to four afternoons are devoted to carry them a distance of two miles to a garden and a suite of temples at the other end of the great highway. Originally when the highway was cut across by a Nālā, called Balāguṇḍi, towards the northern end two sets of cars were prepared, one for each side of the Nālā. The Nālā was filled up by that great patron of Public Works in Orissa, Keśarī Narasiṁha ( 1282-1307 ) who, according to some, caused the Āṭhāranālā bridge to be built. On the arrival of the cars at the gate on the fourth night, the goddess Lakṣmī is carried in a grand procession from the temple to the car, where she pays a visit to her Lord. This day is called *Harapañcamī* and reckons as a special feast.