Cuttack: The holy month of ‘Kartika’ witnesses many festivals in the state, be it Lakshmi puja or Gopashtami. One of the most visited places during this festive season is Dhabaleswar temple at Athagarh town of Cuttack district.
One of the most awaited festivals of the temple, ‘Bada Osha’ was celebrated here this Saturday.
With COVID-19 restrictions, the Cuttack district administration clamped Section-144 around the Dhabaleswar temple premises ahead of the festival. While there was no public congregation, the festival was celebrated according to tradition.
It may be mentioned here that last year the temple witnessed a footfall of 80,000 devotees.
The servitors of the Dhabaleswar Temple offered the famous ‘Gaja Bhoga’ to Lord Shiva on the bank of Mahanadi in Cuttack district on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday. The bhog was offered in between 1 am to 3 am of Saturday and Sunday.
However, the temple administration has offered very less amount of Gaja Bhoga in the temple as the district administration has banned the entry of the devotees to the temple and the subsequent distribution of the Gaja Bhoga.
Notably, ‘Bada Osha’ is the main festival at Dhabaleswar shrine. The day-long festival culminates in prayers and offerings to Lord Shiva. The prasad offered on this day is called as ‘Gaja Pitha’ and is white in colour.
PNN