A Mughal subedar Lalbeg on one of his military excursions was passing by Dandamukundapur when he came across a beautiful widowed brahmin who was taking a bath. He was moved by her youth and beauty and forcibly abducted her. He later married her, and they had a son called Salabega.
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His mother kept her devotion to Lord Jagganath a secret. She was happy with her life but still missed her lord. As Salabega grew old enough, he took up fighting in his father's campaigns.
Once in the war, Lalbeg died, and Salabega was seriously injured. He was struggling to live. His mother worshipped Lord Jagganath day and night, and he was miraculously cured one day. This made Salabega a great devotee of Lord Jagganath.
He felt debted, amazed and thrilled. So, he went to Puri to see Lord Jagganath. However, due to being from another community, the priests didn't allow him to enter the temple. He didn't oppose them either. Rather, he transformed into a devotee.
He patiently waited for the Chariot festival, the Ratha Yatra, in which Lord Jagganath, Goddess Subhadra and Lord Balabhadra travel to Shri Gundicha temple on huge chariots for the devotees to have a darshan. They stay there for 9 days and come back.
So every year he waited for the chariot. He built a small hut on that road.
The rest of the year, he kept visiting religious places. One year, he was unable to reach his hut on time, as he fell ill on his way. Realising that he would not reach Puri in time to see the Ratha yatra festival, he offered prayers to Lord Jagannath, begging him to wait until he arrived. Rath Yatra was already approaching. He felt restless until one day, he had a dream in which the Lord promised him that he would wait for him. So, when the chariot of Lord Jagannath reached near the hut of SalaBega, it refused to move even an inch. People tried to pull it harder, but nothing happened. A devotee's devotion stopped the wheels of the Lord from moving till long seven days.
By then, the king of Puri and the priests were worried. They couldn't think of ways to move the chariot when the head priest had a dream of Lord Jagganath telling him not to worry as he was waiting for his favourite devotee. All rituals and pujas for Lord Jagannath were done on the chariot itself. Salabega reached at last. He ran to see his lord. No one stopped him. He went and had his darshan, and worshipped the Lords.
After his death, his mortal body merged with his Lord. The Mazar or samadhi is of the greatest devotee of Lord Jagannath – Bhakt SalaBega. Salabega was cremated at this very location where now lies his Samadhi, at Badadanda in Puri's Grant Road.
The chariot is made to stop every year in front of the Mazar in remembrance of the unwavering dedication and devotion of SalaBega. It's a beautiful way to show the world that your birth, caste, creed, nothing matters to Lord Jagannath. If you have faith enough to surrender, he has love enough to accept you: it's always between you and your Lord.
