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PURI, INDIA, July 1, 2003: They are chariot makers for the Gods, and millions of devotees depend on them to help make the festival, dedicated to Lord Jagannath, successful. The 10 artisan families in the temple town of Puri have been making the chariots of devotion for hundreds of years. They are known as Maharana, or carpenters, and are given their due status in society. The artisans do other jobs for ten months, then in May they become very busy making the chariots from the rare fashi wood. “We get a tremendous amount of personal satisfaction because we are making cars for the Gods after working throughout the year for men. The temple officials give us US$1.72 a day, which is less than what we get for any other work that we do, but it doesn’t matter,” said 81-year-old Damodar Moharana. “We wait for the occasion because it provides us fixed money as well as gives us God’s blessings. We work day and night to meet the deadline given to us by the temple authorities so that the chariot rolling festival begins on the scheduled date. There has been no delay ever as far I know. This is our hereditary tradition, and we have been doing this for hundreds of years,” he added.



The three gigantic chariots, Nandighosh, Taladhwaja and Deva Dalana of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra, pulled by devotees, are built in front of the famous Jagannath temple. The Nandighosh is the biggest with a height of 15.20 meters and 16 wheels. The Taladhwaja chariot is 14.81 meters tall and the Deva Dalana chariot is the smallest at 14.32 meters. The cost to build the chariots is $97,296.56.



But all is not well with the hard-working artisan families. “The erstwhile king of Puri provided us land and houses. We still have the homes but have lost the cultivable lands because of a 1963 law. As a result, we are forced to work for others,” said Moharana.

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