Bhubaneswar: Among many attractions offered by Dussehra festival, partaking Goddess Durga’s prasad in community feast stands out. Like several other traditions associated with the puja, this practice also differs from place to place in Odisha. One such tradition is fish prasad offered to the Goddess on the day of Navami (9th day).
The puja pandal at Chandini Chowk stands out in preparation of fish bhog in Cuttack city. Since this community puja is considered one of the oldest in the city, its bhog is highly sought after among the devotees.
According to the secretary of Chandini Chowk puja committee, they have been following the practice for over 200 years. He recalled that he had seen the fish offering prepared by his grandfather during his childhood. “It has been followed since the days when the royal family was performing the Durga puja. After the bhog is offered to Devi, the entire cooked bhog is served among the people,” he said.
Besides different delicacies prepared from fish, rice, dal, different varieties of vegetable curry and sweets are served to the people who throng the pandal on the day to participate in community feast.
Around 5 quintals of fish are cooked to prepare different items. With more than 10,000 people joining the feast, the items are cooked by 30 cooks who are assisted by 50 volunteers.
In a Durga puja pandal in Bhubaneswar also, similar arrangements have been made. Here, the fish bhog on Navami is served to around 7,000 devotees. The practice has been followed since the beginning of the Durga puja by the local community, said the puja community secretary.
Similar tradition is followed in Endar village under Derabish block of Kendrapada district. The 200-year-old puja conducted by Durga Prasan Acharya’s family in the village offers fish to the Goddess as ‘Mahabhog’.
“We offer fish and rice to Devi from Saptami to Dashami. This ritual is being followed for 200 years now according to the Tantra and Shakti tradition in which non-vegetarian food is a part of the offering to the deity,” said the chief patron of the Puja Durga Prasan Acharya.
“The ritual began after my ancestors, who were Zamindars, moved to Endar village around two centuries ago,” he added.