Puri & Bangali. Once and for all "🔰

 Puri & Bangali.
Once and for all "

                               
            Rathjatra  in Ancient Times

 

🔴 The history of Bengali 's Puri Yatra is very old , nostalgic based & important .

In ancient times there was no direct connection to reach Puri from Bengal , one had to reached Cuttack  first,then walk for  Puri by foot.
This road was very inaccessible and worthless.
As a result, the pilgrims were always in a state of flux for the journey to Puri.



 🔴 The economy of  Puri's Jagannath temple was completely dependent on these external pilgrims.More pilgrims means more income.

Not only the economy of the temple but also the income of the entire area  depended heavily on these pilgrims. that time Puri was very poor and backward area.

So starting from temple pandas, small hotel owners, river crossing boatmen, small shopkeepers, flower and fruit sellers were all eager to earn a couple of paise from these pilgrims.Beacause it is there main sourse of income.



The Jagannath Temple that time.
  

🔴  But if the hardships and hostility of this journey have a far-reaching effect on pilgrims, the glory of Puri as a place of religion will eventually fade. 

Passenger arrivals will fall.

And the management of the  temple of Puri was determined that it should not happen in any way. Therefore, a group of active intellectuals was recruited from the temple in the early eighteenth century to remove the confusion and frustration of the pilgrims and encourage new people to make the journey to Puri.

It is their responsibility to visit the remote villages of Bengal to encourage Bengalis to visit Puri and to break the  fear of Puri as a place of pilgrimage and ensure the greatness and supremacy of the temple.
This community was called Sethua or Setho,
Which means companion or mate.

And the British used to say to them,
"The Pilgrim Hunter"

            
Rath Jatra in Puri

 

 🔴 This Sethua community used to walk from house to house in Bengal with a round leaf umbrella in one hand, a stick in the other and a pack on their back.
The poor, orphans, widows and pious people were their main targets.

Dwarkanatha Vidyabhushan criticized the activities of these Sethos in his Somaprakash pratrika




🟡  At that time there were two ways to go by water from Bengal to Puri.

First by steamer or boat from Geokhali port in Medinipur to Cuttack, then from there to Puri by walking along Jagannath Road.
(Distance 82 kilometers).


Or by direct ship from Calcutta to Chandbali Ghat in Baleswar, Orissa, from there by small boat to Cuttack  by canal, from there on foot to Puri. That is, there was no direct way to reach Puri by water.
At that time the fare by ship from Calcutta to Chandbalighat was 3 taka 2 paisa.

             
Calcutta Port in eighteenth century

  🟢Accidents often happened on this road.

For example, on May 25, 1887, the Maclean Company ship 'Sir John Lawrence' sank with 800  pilgrims. All the passengers died. Most of them were women.
A memorial  of this terrible event can still be seen on a marble plaque on the wall of the chottelal Durga Prasad Ghat in Kolkata.

Chottelal Durga Prasad Ghat in Kolkata.

 🔴  For all these reasons most of the pilgrims at that time chose to go by walking route 

[ Calcutta- Medinipur- Bhadrak- Cuttack- Puri ]. 

This road was also  very dangerous and terrible. The hardship of a long journey , along with accidents, food shortages, inadequate medical facilities, theft and other problems. Due to all these reasons, most of the pilgrims had a very bad end before Puri Darshan, most of them ended up as bereft corpses.


             
Roads in that time

 

🟡  However, this problem was solved in the late 19th century, when the railway service between Bengal and Odisha was started. As a result of the start of this service, the direct journey of the pilgrims to Puri was no longer as difficult and dangerous as before.




 🔴  As a result, the nature of Puri Yatra of Bengalis changed.

From now on, not only during the Rath festival, but after Darjeeling-Digha, the blue waters of the sea of ​​Puri  occupy a room in the hearts of Bengalis with unreserved affection.
Puri became Bengali's favorite  sea-beach.

This love and nostalgia for Puri remains in the hearts of Bengalis even today.⛔

                           R.subhro

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