The Lord’s natural crown
SARATH CHANDRA
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The Lord wears no precious jewellery, except the tahia, when He is taken to the chariot during the 10-day festival.
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Lord Jagannath’s Tahia
Lord Jagannath of Puri is a fascinating deity or rather unique in the world.
A glance at His image convinces one that the idol is of tribal origin - His eyes, mouth, hands and other features are shaped like primitive arts. But the Aryan worshippers of the God, the Odia people (the British wrongly pronounced the word as Oriya) have adopted number of devices, sophisticated enough to be non-tribal, the Arya-like. One such is known as Tahia, a decorative piece, which the Lord wears during the Ratha Jatra.
Tahia, that is made out of cane, bamboo sticks, solapith, flowers and colours (minimal, red and zinc, are used), is placed on the Lord’s head while He is being taken from the temple to the chariot and vice-versa. Only skilled artisans are entrusted to prepare the tahia.
The tahia is shaped like a betel leaf but actually it is large. It is more than six feet in height and 8.5 ft in circumference.
A lot of raw bamboo sticks (altogether 37 sticks) are held together with cotton strings to give the tahia its shape. Cane is also used at specific places. Flowers, made of solapith, are also used, apart from jasmine. But the row of kadamba flowers at the top of tahia, made of solapith, enhance the beauty of the tahia.
Lord Jagannath’s idol is huge (6’4” tall). When the idol is taken to the chariot (the style is called Pahandi), the Lord wears no precious jewellery, except the tahia, that adds beauty and grace to the Lord’s movement.
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