Today is "Bahuda", the day of the return car festival of the Holy Trinity of Puri, the siblings Lord Balarama, Mother Subhadra and Lord Jagannath, the Lord of the Universe. For the last eight days, the siblings have been inside the "Gundicha Ghara", the temple of Gundicha, on their annual sojourn of "Rath Yatra" or "Gundicha Yatra". Inside the Gundicha temple, the deities are seated on a platform called "Aadapa Mandapa" where they are worshipped with "nitis" or prescribed rituals for eight days until the day of the return journey to "Shri Mandira", the place of permanent residence of the Lords. During their stay in Gundicha temple, the food offerings to the Lords is called "Aadapa Mandapa Mahaprasad". It is considered a great blessing by devotees to be able to partake of this Mahaprasad from the Gundicha temple.

A few days back I received a message from my friend Pami, inviting me for a Shri Bhagvad Gita recitation to be followed by "Aadapa Mandapa Mahaprasad" on the 19th which was yesterday. Yesterday morning however, I woke up feeling a bit dull which had majored into a severe headache by the afternoon. I was disappointed and messaged Pami that I would miss out on the opportunity of the chanting and the very coveted "Mahaprasad". Just the night before, on the 18th, Meena Aunty had sent over "Aadapa Mandapa Mahaprasad" while on Thursday last, my friend and Chairman of my school had sent across a basket of the same. Both were surprises, manifestations of divine miracles of the Lord, fulfilment of the smallest but intense wish, like only He can.

The first miracle. My mother was watching the telecast from Gundicha temple in which they had showed a clip of the "Mahaprasad". That afternoon she said to me that while watching that particular clip on television, she suddenly had a whiff of the distinct fragrance of "Mahaprasad", as if it had been laid out in front of her. A few hours later, a parcel of "Adapa Mandapa Mahaprasad" arrived, the first of this season, sent by my Chairman who knows of my never ending craving for it and is always indulgent to each and every whim of mine. Now, for the second miracle. Day before yesterday Meena Aunty called suddenly to say that she was sending across some "Aadapa Mandapa Mahaprasad" that had just arrived from Puri. While we were having the "Mahaprasad" sent by her, I was reminding my father of the days in the 80’s and 90’s when he would get "Aadapa Mandapa Mahaprasad" in a mini van to feed two hundred people. All our relatives, friends and staff would congregate at our home in the evening, a "Mahaprasad" evening, feeling happy and blessed. I reminisced that those days there used to be a delicious "sapuri khata" or pineapple chutney, a sweet-sour delicacy of pineapples, sugar and coconut. I had not had it since the last thirty years or more because it was probably not made in the temple kitchens any longer and these days pumpkin chutney was the commonly made "khata" in the menu. Just remembering the "sapuri khata" made me long for it quite desperately, the flavour and taste suddenly refreshed in my mind and on my taste buds.

The third miracle. Not having gone to Pami’s house last evening, I thought I’d type out a note on an anecdote of Lord Jagannath relevant to "Rath Yatra" for the new blog "Manooscript" which was scheduled to go live on the auspicious day of "Bahuda”". At 7.30 in the evening, Kumari, one of the house helps came in and announced that Satpathy babu has come from the office with “Mahaprasad”. Indeed it was a huge basket of "Aadapa Mandapa Mahaprasad" sent by my Chairman again, fresh, flavorful, and hot, a miracle basket, a basket of blessings of the merciful Lord of the Universe. I opened the basket to pack some for Meena Aunty and Lalee. As I began to scoop out the dishes one after the other, I noticed that the "khataa" looked distinctly different. I looked closely and realized that the biggish cubed pieces were definitely not pumpkin. Pressing the piece with a spoon I immediately knew that this was pineapple! I was delirious. A sudden whim, a passing thought, a lingering longing – the Great Lord of the Universe, Mahaprabhu Jagannath, the all-knowing, all-merciful Lord, had granted it all. The "sapuri khata" tasted exactly like it used to, three decades ago. I couldn’t hold back my tears. The basket had everything that one could ask for – "ghia arna" or white rice seasoned with cow’s ghee, salt and huge raisins, "kanika" or flavoured sweetened rice, "dali" or sweet lentils, "potala dalma" or pointed gourds cooked with lentils, "besara" or vegetables cooked in tangy mustard gravy, "saagaw" or spinach, sapuri khataa" or pineapple chutney, and finally "khira’, the delectable dessert of soft balls of cottage cheese immersed and soaked in sweet thickened milk.

All three of us siblings, Pinku, Lalee and myself, adore “Mahaprasad”. To us it is a bond with our roots, a celebration of our “odianess” and a connect with our Lord, the Lord of the Universe, Lord Jagannath Mahaprabhu. In our growing up years, apart from the many usual lunches and dinners thrown for family and friends, “Mahaprasad Sevan” was also a regular affair, whether from “Shri Ananta Vasudev” temple at Bhubaneswar or “Shri Mandira” and “Gundicha Ghara” in Puri. My father would specially choose the items and order them through friends or subordinates who were well connected with the servitors of the temples. I especially remember authentic “Kamalaa Bhata” or rice flavoured with pure orange juice and cow’s ghee, the colour a beautiful blushing peach. I haven’t had it since then. But these experiences with “Mahaprasad” inculcated a respect for this food which is held with such great reverence, as well as enabled us to develop a taste for plain food that was steam cooked without any trappings of fancy spices and flavourings.

With no access to seeing the Lords on the chariots for the last two “Rath Yatras”, the Lord is as desperate as his devotees for the barriers to break, for He yearns for his devotees as much as His devotees yearn for Him. Moments of miracles like the ones narrated above are subtle indications that the Lord is always walking with us, listening to us, and reassuring us that barriers don’t matter for He is all-pervading and omnipresent, holding us in the palm of His divine grace.

I was writing something else about the Lord as the opening note for the blog but by sending “Aadapa Mandapa Mahaprasad” today, He turned the tide of the narrative. I called up my Chairman a while ago to thank him. He said – your love for the Lord made it happen. I know for a fact that his love for the Lord far outweighs mine and hence he is the one chosen by the Lord as the instrument for sharing of divine grace. I can only offer heartfelt gratitude to all those who enable, who care and share divine blessings with such generosity.

As the Lord returns home today, may the Great Homecoming augur healing and protection. May Lord Jagannath always be the object of my vision – Jagannatha Swami Nayana Patha Gaami Bhava Tume.