Puri: Puri Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb(67) completed 50 years of his hereditary Chhera Pahanra rituals of the Holy Trinity this year.
Gajapati Maharaja performs the Chhera Pahanra, which involves sweeping the decks of the chariots with a golden-plated broom stick on the occasion of Rath Yatra and Bahuda Yatra.
Gajapati has been performing Chhera Pahanra service since 1971. He ascended the throne in July 1970 after his father Gajapati Maharaja Birakishore Deb died in the midst of Rath Yatra. Dibysingha was only 17. He has pursued his studies at St Stephens College in Delhi.
He was not able to perform Chhera Pahanra ony once in his lifetime in 1976, when he had gone to abroad for LLM course.
Ms Kalinga AI