On the banks of the Ganga in Varanasi stands the dham of Lord Jagannath, regarded as the country's second oldest Jagannath temple. Its most unusual tradition is a miraculous kadha that is offered to Lord Jagannath every year while he is unwell. Inside the temple's sanctum sanctorum, priests prepare this kadha in complete secrecy, and it is this very kadha that is used to treat the ailing deity.
14 days of illness and seclusion
From Ashadh Krishna Pratipada to the Chaturdashi tithi, a full 14 days, Lord Jagannath remains unwell along with his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra. During this period, all three are offered the Ayurvedic kadha daily to help them recover. For these 14 days, the deities stay in complete seclusion and the temple's doors remain shut. Even so, devotees do not stop coming to the temple hoping to receive the prasad of this kadha.
The secret behind the miraculous kadha
According to the temple's head priest, Radheshyam, it is believed that any devotee who drinks this kadha continuously for all 14 days is freed from every kind of physical ailment and stays disease free, or nirog, for the entire year. This is why crowds of devotees gather at the temple every evening to receive the kadha as prasad. The priest says Lord Jagannath's kadha is packed with medicinal properties and is prepared using cloves, cardamom, black pepper, bay leaf, jaggery, tulsi, mulethi and several other ingredients. Special care is taken to maintain purity while preparing it, and only the priest, working in secrecy, prepares the kadha and offers it to Lord Jagannath.
Recovery with parwal juice, then the Rath Yatra
After drinking the kadha continuously for 14 days, Lord Jagannath fully recovers on the final day by drinking parwal, or pointed gourd, juice. Following this, as part of the manpher ritual, he is carried on a palanquin for a procession around the town. The day after this town procession, the Rath Yatra is taken out. For the next three days, Lord Jagannath stays among his devotees and listens to their wishes.
