Puri is not only a land of temples, beaches and secnic spots, but also a land of fairs and festivals. Every season in Puri brings a host of colourful fairs and festivals presenting joy to the visitors. Out of all, the most significant is the Car Festival and it becomes most important when associated with the Navakalevara. The term Navakalevara means New Body (Nava means New and Kalevara means Body). During the Navakalevara ceremony the old figures of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Shubhadra are replaced by new onces. The figure of Lord Jagannath shelters a mysterious Brahma Padartha (The Supreme Matter) and is known as Daru Brahma. During Navakalevara this Daru Brahma (Prime-Soul enshrined in wood) of Lord Jagannath is also transferred from the old figure to the new one.

The Nabakalebara ceremony of the deities takes place in the year When the month of Asadha (June-July) happens to be an intercalary month (Joda Asadha or two months of Asadha). Generally this occurs once in every 12 years but not strickly so. It may occur also in 8 years or 16 years or 19 years depending on the auspicious day.

The Brahma Padartha (The Supreme Matter), mysteriously hidden within the body of Lord Jagannath is told to be the tooth of Buddha by the Buddhists. Vaishnavas say it to be the Live Shalagrama (a pebble with natural symbols) which fell from heaven into the Gomati river of Nepal. Shabaras have an interesting story to tell : as destined, Zara Shabara pierced an arrow into the feet causing death of Krishna at Mahendragiri. Arjuna instructed the crying Zara to cremate. But Zara could not burn Krishna's body completely and the navel portion remained unbrunt and the same was kept inside the initial deity worshipped by the tribals as Nilamadhaba. This element is transferred from old deities to new ones in the dead hour of the night by hereditary functionary of the temple who is made to be completely blindfolded, his hands and feet too wrapped with thick layers of silk ribbons so that the transferee can neither see nor feel anything about it.

Nitis associated with this festival are very complicated and elaborate. The first step taken in this connection is the procurement of daru(wood). The bodies of the deities are made of Neem (Margo) wood. Nobody knows from where to find the sacred wood to create the new idols, so as per the tradition a group consisting of specific persons likes Daitapatis, Deulakarana and others of Lord Jagannath temple come to Kakatapur and after taking bath in river Prachi they pray Goddess Mangala (the presiding deity of Kakatapur) to help them to find the sacred wood. The priests seelp in front of the Goddess with their face down (locally known as Adhia posture) and then Goddess Mangala come in their dream and tell the exact locations of the sacred neem trees for all the deities. This custom has been performed from years during navakalevara festival without any deviation. Then the priests go to the dreamt locations on foot and match all the prerequisites which are required for the trees to qualify as the sacred tree for the deities. Following are the prerequisites which are matched:

1. They must have a wheel (chakra) sign on them.
2. Poisonous snakes like Cobra must be hiding under them or in nearby ant hill.
3. A tamarind tree must be in the vicinity.
4. A funeral yard in the vicinity of each tree.
5. Each tree must have 4 to 7 branches over the main trunk.
6. From ground level upto 10/12 feet it should be straight and solid.
7. No nest of birds on treetops.

After the trees are located and selected, the rituals including homa (fire sacrifice) is performed there to invite all demigods to give their blessings and cutting of the tree can start. First only the golden axe can touch the tree, then silver and after that iron axe can finish the work. 108 names of the Lord are chanted continuously. A small cart with four wheels is made out of smaller branches of every tree and the main trunks of the trees are transported on these carts to Puri. The cart is pulled all the way by the devotees of the villages it passes through.

Tree with the symbolic mark of Wheel (chakra)	Tree with the symbolic mark of Mace (Gada)
Cobra representing Ananta Sesa	Fire sacrifice (Homa) is performed in front of the tree
Cutting of the tree	Daitapati carrying the log back to Puri

After reaching puri, the wood enters the jagannath temple through its northen gate before the scheduled date of Annual Bathing Ceremony of the Deities (Devasnana Purnima). The woods are kept in the Koili Baikuntha, situated in the northwest corner of the Temple. From next day of the bathing ceremony the deities are carved out of the wood by the skilled carpenters called Biswakarma in secrecy, under the strict supervision and guidance of Daitapatis.

Before Asadha Chaturthy night the new deities are made completely and are taken inside the Temple. On this specific night at midnight hours the Brahma Padarth (The Supreme Matter) is transferred secretly from old to new deities. Thereafter, the old images are buried in the Koili Baikuntha. Koili means "burial ground" and Baikuntha means "Heaven".

Following table provides the details of the place from where the sacred Neem trees found for the Deities in previous Navakalevaras.