Unique Murti (idol) of Hindu God Jagannath at Gud Village in Balasore in Orissa

The murti or idol of Hindu God Jagannath that is worshipped in temples is usually made of wood - Daru Brahma. But there is a unique murti of Jagannath at Gud Village in Balasore in Orissa which is made from stone – Shila Brahma. The specialty of the murti does not end there – the same murti has features of Balabhadra and Subhadra. The temple is originally dedicated to Balabhadra, the elder brother of Lord Krishna.

It must be noted that in all Jagannath temples, Balabhadra and Subhadra are also worshipped along with Lord Jagannath. Each is worshipped as a separate murti.

But at the in Gud Village – the single main murti has the eyes of Jagannath, face of Balabhadra and body of Subhadra.

The murti is nearly three-feet tall and weighs over 100 kilograms.

There is also an interesting story about the murti that is vogue in the village –

The stone murti in the form of Balabhadra bearing marks of seven cobra hoods on its head was found floating in a village pond one morning. After noticing it for a while, some of village youths brought it and placed it underneath a banyan tree tying around trunk with a rope.

But every morning, they mysteriously found the murti floating in the pond. The people of the village then built a temple for the murti.

All the rituals associated with Jagannath and all major festivals including Snan Yatra, Rath Yatra, Jhulan Yatra, Chandan Yatra etc are observed here.

Gud village is around 55 km south-east of Balasore.

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