Umerkote: With a puja performed at the Maa Bhandara Gharani, the presiding deity of Nabarangpur district, the 18th Mondei festival and Pallishree Mela have begun here Friday. The rituals were performed at the Goddess’s temple to obtain her divine order (Agyanmala).
The venue of the three-day festival was shifted to Hirli Dangar. As many as 300 stalls and a Meena Bazar were set up for the people. More than 10,000 people were assembled for Mondei and its cultural programme.
SC and ST Development Minister Jagannath Saraka, MP Ramesh Chandra Majhi, Zilla Parisad chairperson Bhagabati Bhatra, Vice-chairperson Nibedita Mohanty, SP Nitin Kusalkar and Mondei organising committee chairman Ajit Kumar Mishra were also present.
“Mondei festival is an occasion to promote hidden talent and cottage industry,” Saraka said.
Mondei is a widely celebrated festival of Nabarangpur district where you can see a large congregation of people followed with worshipping a common deity amid pre-historic rituals ,a fair and entertainment activities with compulsory folk dances and tribal opera for the whole night. This festival is usually celebrated after the harvesting of crops.
PNN