Cuttack: A glimpse of Lord Jagannath in his dreams has transformed a salesman into an avid idol-maker. Though it is hard to believe, this is true.
Meet Gopal Chandra Nath of Ramakrushnapur in Nischintakoili block of Cuttack district in Odisha. Years back he was a salesman in a cloth store. One night he got a glimpse of Lord Jagannath in his dreams. As such he was a devotee of Lord Jagannath since childhood. He took it as an indication from God to go for a big change in life.
The next day, Nath felt like he should make an idol of Lord Jagannath exactly as he had seen in the dream so that he can always remember the face of the God that he had dreamt of.
Then, Gopal did not have any idea about idol-making. Neither he was trained on this, nor did he have any day tried to make an idol. Yet, he went on to make an idol of the Lord.
Astonishingly, Nath made an idol of Lord Jagannath exactly like he had seen in his dreams. He understood that it was not his talent, but the Lord himself blessed him to come up with the beautiful idol.
Now, Gopal went on making idols of Lord Jagannath and His siblings Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra. And all his creations are perfect. The signs, the attires, and the shapes of the idol are perfect in the idols made by him. Soon, Gopal quit his profession as a salesman and turned into an idol maker.
So far he has made a number of Lord Jagannath idols. He makes the idols using clothes and thermocol. He gets video calls from devotees even from other countries while the locals purchase Lord Jagannath idols from him. Yet, he is not a proper businessman because he has presented idols to different people. But yes, sometimes people give him some money for the idols and he accepts.
Ms Kalinga