Panna (Madhya Pradesh): We have never heard that God himself may have fallen ill but a strange incident has come to fore in Panna district of Madhya Pradesh. Lord Jagannath Swami of Panna fell ill due to heatstroke and as a result of which the doors of the temple have been closed for the next 15 days.
Expert Manish Mishra has said that there is an ancient temple of Lord Jagannath Swami in the district where Lord Jagannath Swami lives along with his sister Subhadra, and brother Balabhadra. There is a hundreds of years old tradition of celebrating Rath Yatra in the district. But before the Rath Yatra, the Lord used to fall ill due to heatstroke. It is believed that Lord Jagannath used to fall ill while taking bath in the sunlight.
On Tuesday morning, the rituals of the bathing of the Lord were performed. The Lord Jagannath was brought out from the sanctum sanctorum of the temple and bathed with medicinal water along with chanting Vedic mantras. As a part of the tradition the Lord fell ill. With this, the historic Rath Yatra festival also started.
The priest of Jagannath Swami temple, Rakesh Goswami, says that the tradition of giving medicine by Vaidya is also followed daily till the Lord gets cured. During this, the doors of the temple will remain closed for the devotees.
The devotees also pray for the improvement in the health of Lord Jagannath Swami.