Athagarh: Thousands of devotees throng Dhabaleswar Temple at Athagarh for a glimpse of Baba Dhabaleswar on the occasion of ‘Bada Osha’ every year.
However this year, devotees will miss all the rituals of ‘Bada Osha’ in view of the Corona pandemic.
On the occasion of Bada Osha on Saturday, the temple was opened at 3.30 am. The servitors had started the rituals of ‘Bada Osha’, following which, the Lord took a holy bath with 108 pitchers of aromatic water.
Then the Kiratarjuna Besha of Lord Shiva was performed by a group of servitors in the temple.
Notably, as the Panchuka is being observed six days in the holy month of Kartika this year, this Kiratarjuna Behsa was performed after 25 years on Bada Osha.
On this occasion, ‘Gaja Pitha’ (cake), also called ‘Gaja Bhoga’ made of rice flour, jaggery, cardamom and coconut, will be offered to the deity. There are some special rituals for preparing and offering it to Lord Dhabaleswar. The ‘Gaja Bhoga’ will be offered to the Lord at midnight today.
As per tradition, after the puja, the ‘Gaja Bhoga’ is distributed among the devotees every year. But this year, devotees will miss the Bhoga (prasad).
The Lord will also be adorned in ‘Badasinghara Besha’ today.
Bada Osha is one of the biggest Osha (fasting) festivals in Odisha. It is observed from the Sukla Trayodashi (13th day) in the Odia month of Kartika.
According to Padma Purana, Lord Indra had prayed to Lord Dhabaleswar and taken a holy dip in the Mahanadi on Kartika Purnima for a reprieve from the curse of Lord Brahma.
