Lord Rajiv Lochan changes his form thrice in a day

Lord Rajiv Lochan of Rajim is important not only from spiritual religious point of view but also from historical and archaeological point of view. Many legends are famous in the area about Lord Rajiv Lochan. The specialty of the idol of Lord Rajiv Lochan made of black stone is that this idol is a living idol made from a single stone. Many evidences of which will be seen directly and indirectly by the devotees coming here. 

Oil is offered to Lord Rajiv Lochan every Saturday. This oil is absorbed by the idol of Lord Rajiv Lochan, which is a surprising miracle in itself that where does the oil offered to this stone idol go. Late Shri Narayan Prasad Pandey, former head priest of Rajiv Lochan temple, had claimed that he has felt the hair on his body on touching it not once but many times.

Apart from this, it is believed that Lord Rajiv Lochan changes his form three times a day. He can be seen in childhood in the morning, youth in the afternoon and old age in the night. Many devotees have also accepted that they have experienced these forms. The worship and decoration of Lord Rajiv Lochan is based on the festivals organized on the basis of religious beliefs. There are many festivals in the year. His decoration is done according to that festival and he is worshipped with the same rituals.

It is said that earlier there was no tradition of offering bhog to Lord Rajiv Lochan after the night sleep aarti. That is why whenever he felt hungry, he used to go to a shop in Rajim in the guise of an old man and buy food items to satisfy his hunger. Once, seeing the temple bowl at the same sweet shop, the temple priest asked him that from where did you get this temple vessel, in which bhog is offered to Lord Rajiv Lochan, then that sweet maker told that every night an old man comes and asks for food items and eats them, in return he gave me this vessel. Then the priests realized their mistake and they started the tradition of offering bhog after the night sleep aarti and a wooden plank was placed in front of his idol, so that he could not go out at night. In the night sleep aarti, he is offered a sweet made of rice called anarsa. In the morning, he is offered butter and sugar candy as bal bhog and in the afternoon he is offered food prasad.

The worship method and prasad of Rajiv Lochan temple are quite similar to the rituals of Jagannathpuri temple. There is also a belief that on the day of Magh Purnima, Lord Jagannath comes to Rajim from Puri to have darshan of Lord Rajiv Lochan and on this day, whoever has darshan of Lord Rajiv Lochan in three times of the day gets the holy benefits of the Jagannath Puri Yatra.