The term “quarantine” has attained a certain degree of popularity in recent times. And it is not very surprising to confess that COVID -19 is actually responsible for the whole act. The people are under the hawk eyed vigil of the authority. The roads look deserted. A handful of shops are seen to remain open for a fixed period of time. And the human life is confined within the four walls without any other option laid down before. At times we are overpowered by anger, boredom and frustration as well. But do we know the other side of the story? It is the story related or woven around Lord Jagannath.
According to Skandha Purana, the king Indradyumna arranged a bathing ceremony of the Lord, fondly know as Snan Jatra. On this auspicious day, the Gods are taken out of the temple and the priests worship them, following ample rites and rituals. Later the Gods are given a bath with the water collected from the well inside the temple! One hundred and eight pitchers of scented water are poured on the Gods! They put on new garments and go for Answara, a fortnight period when no one body is allowed to view them. This is the “quarantine” period of the Gods. It seems as if they are completely detached from the material world. But the truth is, they are very much in us! Infact this year the Puri temple will remain closed till the last week of July. The auspicious ‘Ratha Yatra’ is going to be held on 12th of this month. But unfortunately, witnessing the crowd pulling the rathas amid shouts and yells will be a far-fetched matter. The spiritual intoxication will not prevail among us this time. The ‘anointed ground’ of this pious place will too miss her devotees. At times it appears as if the world has shut up herself to rejuvenate herself before managing to come up with a completely new appearance!
So if the Gods can enter such a kind of status, why cannot we? The Supreme power of the universe follows the norm every year without any slight hue of complaint! And we, the poor humans are often reluctant to put up with this situation. Strangely awful! Yet we believe that there is a connection between the Lord and us. However, the time is to send prayers to Him to fortify our mind to put up a strong fight against the prevailing horror!!