Many prayers and hymns dedicated to Shree Jagannatha have been there in my memory since childhood. I felt happy singing the bhajans of Mahaprabhu Jagannatha while studying in school and college. I felt very close to Mahaprabhu. I do not sing the bhajans these days. But I do remember Mahaprabhu and hum his bhajans every day. I always feel the presence of Mahaprabhu near me. He supports me in difficult times. To this day, I hum the song composed by Bhaktakabi Madhusudan Rao which reads: “The Mahaprabhu is with me day and night; with this remembrance, I shall always worship Him with all my heart.”

By the time I reached an age when I could somewhat understand worldly things, I had come to realise the greatness of Mahaprabhu Jagannatha. At home, there were frequent discussions about Mahaprabhu Jagannatha. Such discussions often took place in our village too. When I studied at the village school, the prayer, Ahe Nila Shaila, written by Bhakta Salbeg was regularly recited. Our teacher used to tell us a lot about Mahaprabhu Jagannatha: There is a huge temple in Puri, and no other temple is as magnificent as that. In the temple, Mahaprabhu Shree Jagannatha is worshipped along with his sister Subhadra and elder brother Balabhadra. Mahaprabhu Jagannatha has dark colour and round eyes. Subhadra’s complexion is yellow and Balabhadra is white like a moonlit flower. Once you see the deities, you can never forget them. Our teacher also used to say, Jagannatha is the “Mahaprabhu”, his prasad is “Mahaprasada”, His temple is the “Bada Deula” or Grand Temple, His path is the “Bada Danda”, that is, Grand Road, and His sea is the “Mahodadhi” or the Great Ocean. Purushottam Kshetra, Puri, is far from my........

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