Meet Bahubali Priest Of Jagannathpuri, Mr. Odisha Has Lived Seven Times

In the Puranas, the glory of Jagannathpuri Dham in Odisha, which is famous as Vaikuntha of the earth, is unique. At the same time, many devotees, priests and servants of this supreme virtue are also unique. Among the thousands of servicemen posted in the service of Jagannath Mahaprabhu, you can identify Anil Gokshayakar from a distance. Anil Gokshikar, who falls in the Pratihari category of Sevayats, is a bodybuilder as well as a priest. The deal is such that if someone sees them and says Bahubali, then someone is Jagannath Mahaprabhu’s bodyguard. 

For centuries, the priests of his dynasty preferred to call themselves Mahaprabhu’s bodyguards. Their ancestors protected the temple deities in times of invasion and crisis. For this reason, he is identified as Mahaprabhu’s bodyguard. By the way, in the prescribed system of temple services, they are called Pratihari Sevayat. There have been 17 major attacks on Sreejagannathpuri temple so far. Every time priests here have hidden the Deities and protected them. Anil comes from the lineage tradition of the same priests. 

The special thing is that Anil Sri has been the champion of body building competitions along with taking over the responsibilities of rituals of the temple. He has also been a Mr. Odisha seven times with attractive bodybuilding. He has also won the Gold Medal twice in the National Championship of Body Building and the Silver Medal once, as well as in the International Championship held in Dubai in 2016. At the same time, he has won gold medals in the national championships of 2017 and 2019 and silver in 2018.

Anil says that people of our family have been serving Mahaprabhu for many generations. When the Mughals and other invaders attacked Srimandir, our ancestors protected Mahaprabhu by removing the Deity from Srimandir. Since the idol of Mahaprabhu is very heavy, it is necessary for us to be powerful to lift them. For this we practice regularly. It is also necessary for the children of our community to go to the arena after studies. It is known that there have been 17 invasions of external rulers on the Sreejagannathpuri temple and every time priests here had hidden the idols of God and protected them from the attackers. Since then, this responsibility has also continued according to the dynasty.