Keonjhar: The 88th seven-day long ‘Chaiti Festival’ at ‘Maa Tarini’ temple in Ghatagaon of Keonjhar district kicked off Tuesday with religious fervour and gaiety. Thousands of devotees from various parts of Odisha and outside the state thronged the shrine to witness the colourful festival which is locally called ‘Chaiti Parba’.
Organisers of the festival said priests and servitors performed various rituals like ‘marjana’, ‘mangal alati’ and ‘sodasa upachar’ of the deity early Tuesday morning on the first day of the festival. Later the temple gates were opened for the devotees to have darshan of the deity which has been decked up in gold ornaments.
Devotees offered puja and had darshan of the Goddess in ‘Suna Besha’ (gold attire). It is believed that ‘Maa Tarini’ showers her blessings on devotees during darshan in ‘Suna Besa’, said Rajendra Pattanayak, a former member of the trust body of the temple.
In view of the large congregation, the temple and local administration have put in place various arrangements for devotees to ensure smooth conduct of the festival. Measures like demarcation of lanes and setting up of barricades have been done for smooth movement of devotees. A large number of cops also ensured that devotees had smooth and ‘hassle-free darshan’ of the Goddess.
Though the weather has remained cool in the past two days, the administration has taken special measures to protect devotees against the heat. Drinking water facilities and a medical camp have been set up close to the temple. Devotees were provided with ‘pana’, a type of summer drink to mitigate the heat wave. The arena of the temple premises has been covered with tarpaulin to protect the devotees from the scorching sun. Cultural programmes like ‘Palla’, ‘Sankirtan’, devotional songs and dance programmes were also staged on the day and will continue during the entire duration of the festival, officials stated.
PNN