Berhampur: The biennial festival of Budhi Thakurani, popularly known as ‘Thakurani Yatra’ will be held at Berhampur in Odisha’s Ganjam district from April 4 to May 1.
The date for the 28-day Thakurani Yatra was fixed by the yatra management committee at the house of Desi Behera P Durga Prasad, Chief of the Dera community, late on Friday night as suggested by Byomokoti Basudev Sashtri Sidhanti.
Budhi Thakurani is considered the daughter of the Desi Behera and the deity stays with her father’s family during the entire Yatra period.
Preparations for the festival commenced at the Desi Behera Sahi after the Subha Khunti (auspicious post) was installed on March 17 midnight after Desi Behera went to the Thakurani temple with a large number of people and brought the Subha Khunti. Desi Behera P Durga Prasad sought the cooperation of everybody for a smooth conduct of the festival.
According to eminent historians, the cult of Buddhi Thakurani originated along with the emergence of Berhampur town around 1672 AD. Telugu Lingayat Dera (weaver) community, who came to Mahuri on the invitation of Raja Saheb of Mahuri to take up their profession of weaving, started their ‘Ghata Yatra’ (Pot Festival) for highlighting the divinity of Mahamayee Thakurani of his capital town Berhampur.
The Odisha government has recognised ‘Thakurani Yatra’ in Berhampur as the 6th state festival. The other festivals were ‘Dhanu Yatra’ in Bargarh, ‘Parab’ in Koraput, ‘Mukteswar’ and ‘Rajarani’ in Bhubaneswar and ‘Konark Festival’ in Konark.
According to a legend, the chief of the Dera community used to collect flowers and offer it to the Goddess everyday. During a Chaitra Tuesday night he heard a girl crying on the road near his veranda. He opened the door with a lantern in his hand and came closer to the girl. He saw a young woman with black saree and open hair with tears in her eyes. He enquired as to why she was crying. The young lady replied that she was on the way to her father’s house but lost the track.
The Dera chief said, “You are just like my daughter. Don’t venture in the deep night. Take a rest in my house and you may leave in the morning.”
The young woman then suddenly disappeared in the nearby bushes. The Dera chief returned home with a confused heart. The next morning when he tried to fix the flower on the head of the Thakurani, the flower fell down after every attempt. The dazed chief prayed to the Goddess.
A voice was heard, “You became my father last night. How will a daughter receive any prayer or offerings from a father?” Thakurani told him to go home and requested him to appoint the person as the successor as priest to whom he saw first on the way to home.
The chief returned home and saw a barber first. From that day the barbers were the priests of Buddhi Thakurani. The Goddess later told the chief “I am your daughter. I will visit my father’s house every two alternative years for a particular period and return to my temple”. Thus, the tradition goes on.
