The Nabakalebara festival, in which the wooden idols of the deities are replaced, is observed at which temple?

Nabakalebara is a ritual held at the Jagannath Temple in Puri, Odisha, in which the wooden images of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and the Sudarshana Chakra are replaced with new ones. The word means "new body" ("naba" means new and "kalebara" means body).

Nabakalebara is held in a year in which there is an extra month of Ashadha (Adhika Ashadha or Adhika masa) in the Hindu lunar calendar. This happens about every 8, 12 or 19 years. The most recent Nabakalebara was held in 2015, when about 50 lakh devotees attended, and the previous one was held in 1996.

The ritual is very elaborate and secret. It begins with the "Banajaga Yatra", in which a team of priests and temple servants (daitapatis) goes out in search of the special neem trees (daru) from which the new images will be carved. The trees must have specific signs, such as the symbols of the conch, wheel, mace and lotus, and must be near a river, a cremation ground, an anthill and a hermitage. The trees are cut with rituals and brought to the temple, where the new images are carved in secret by the temple carpenters. In the most secret part of the ritual, the "Brahma Padartha", the sacred substance believed to be the soul of the deity, is transferred from the old images to the new ones by the senior daitapatis, at night, in complete darkness and with their eyes covered. The old images are buried in the Koili Vaikuntha, a sacred burial ground inside the temple complex. The new images are then shown to the devotees and taken out in the Rath Yatra.

The Jagannath Temple was built in the 12th century by King Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva of the Eastern Ganga dynasty. It is one of the Char Dham pilgrimage sites.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Lingaraja Temple, Bhubaneswar is a great Shiva temple.
• ✗Sun Temple, Konark is dedicated to the Sun god.
• ✗Kamakhya Temple, Guwahati is famous for the Ambubachi Mela.