Cuttack: ‘Gaja Bhoga’ and ‘Tarana’ were offered to Lord Shiva at Dhabaleswar temple on the banks of the Mahanadi at Athagarh in Odisha’s Cuttack district late on Saturday.
According to sources, the door of the temple was opened around 2 am. ‘Mangala Alati’ ritual was performed and the deity was bathed with 108 pitchers of water. ‘Mailama’ was then performed followed by some other rituals. Following which, the servitors decorated the Lord in Badasinghar Besha and offered Gaja Bhoga, a Linga-shaped cake made of rice powder, sugar, gur, moong and coconut.
Later, the Gaja Bhoga was distributed among the devotees, who thronged the State’s famous Shaivite shrine on the occasion of Bada Osa.
The Cuttack district administration had made elaborate arrangements to ensure hassle-free conduct of rituals and darshan for devotees.
LEGENDS
According to Padma Purana, Lord Indra prayed to Lord Dhabaleswar and taken a holy dip in the Mahanadi on Kartika Purnima for a reprieve from the curse of Lord Brahma.
It is also believed that the Lord changed the colour of a bull from black to while on this day.
The devotees end their month-long fasting by partaking the Gaja Bhoga on this day.
