Silk Rakhis for Lord Baladevjew and Jagannath Temples Worldwide

For nearly 24 years, a family of Patara servants (Patara Sevayats) in Cuttack has upheld a heavenly sibling custom by making sacred silk rakhis on behalf of Goddess Subhadra for her elder brother, Lord Baladevjew of Kendrapara, and deities from temples around the world. The tradition is organized by the Shree Jagannath Pataseva Vikash Parishad.

The painstaking work begins months before Raksha Bandhan. Silk is brought from Bengaluru and sacred pata cloth associated with Lord Jagannath is sourced from Puri. The family members then turns these materials into elaborate rakhis using natural ingredients rather than chemical colours.

A tradition that began as a devotional service undertaken by Duryodhan Sahu has now become a family legacy. After his death, his son Himanshu Sahu assumed responsibility for the ritual, ensuring that the sacred threads continue to travel from Cuttack to Lord Baladevjew’s temple at Tulasi Kshetra year after year.

“My father began this service. After his death, I decided to continue it. The entire family prepares the rakhis with devotion. We begin the work around Saraswati Puja and several other people also help us,” Himanshu said.

Raksha Bandhan celebrates the bond between brothers and sisters, with a sister tying a sacred thread around her brother’s wrist. Odisha’s temple traditions give this human relationship a divine expression – Goddess Subhadra sends rakhis to her elder brother, Lord Baladevjew, also addressed as Lord Balabhadra.

The Cuttack family’s role lies at the heart of this tradition. Its members spend nearly two months weaving together silk and sacred cloth with devotion and then the finished rakhis are taken to Puri. There, they are presented before the Jagadguru Shankaracharya and formally offered as part of the religious observance.

The rakhis subsequently begin their ceremonial journey from Srikshetra in Puri to Tulasi Kshetra in Kendrapara. Placed separately in two decorated trays, they are carried in a procession accompanied by sankirtan (devotional songs with cymbals and dhol).

Women welcome the sacred threads at several places along the route, performing rituals with flowers, lamps and incense sticks. Goddess Subhadra’s chief Badagrahi (servitor), Ramakrushna Das Mahapatra, also participates in the procession.

The rakhis reach Kendrapara around four days before Rakhi Purnima (as is usually named in Odisha) and are handed over to the trustees of the Baladevjew temple. Following special rituals on the festival day, they are ceremonially tied to Lord Baladevjew on behalf of Devi Subhadra.

Shree Jagannath Pataseva Vikash Parishad president, Dr Rabi Narayan Mohapatra, said Duryodhan Sahu had initiated the service before several philanthropists and devotees came forward to support it.

“In its early years, silk worth around Rs 40,000 was brought from Bengaluru, while between Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 2 lakh was spent on preparing and sending the rakhis. As the initiative expanded, its annual cost rose to approximately Rs 4 lakh-Rs 5 lakh,” Mohapatra said.

The observance has now grown well beyond the ceremonial rakhi meant for Lord Baladevjew. This year, the Parishad plans to send rakhis free of cost to nearly 800 Jagannath temples across the world.

For the Sahu family, however, the growing scale of the initiative has not altered the essence of the service. Each year, its members return to the sacred threads their father once began making, preserving through their hands a tradition that links a Cuttack home with the shrines of Srikshetra and Tulasi Kshetra.

Content contributed by Narayan Sahoo, reported from Cuttack, Odisha, India, sourced by ETV Bharat