Puri: The holiest of all months in Hindu Calendar began on Thursday and Puri is all geared up for the month-long Kartika Brata with Habisyalis (women who observe fast during the month) flocking to the Pilgrim Town since morning for Radha Damodar Puja.
More than 2,500 Habisyalis had reached Puri till Wednesday night. A total of 2,649 habisyalis have registered their names and the number is likely to go up by Thursday night.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will inaugurate the Habisyalis centres in Puri through video conferencing from the state secretariat at 5 pm on Thursday. The district administration will also hold a meeting in this regard at Puri Railway Yatri Niwas.
Puri Collector Jyoti Prakash Das had personally supervised all the Habisyalis’ Kendras here. These have been opened in Railway Kalyan Mandap, Jagannath Ballav Byakhyan Kendra and Municipality Kalyan Mandap.
Temporary tent houses have also been set up in Puri Railway Yatri Niwas to accommodate the Habisyalis.
Notably, women stay in Puri for a month and visit Jagannath Temple every day while observing the fast.
According to official sources, free accommodation, ‘Mahaprasad sevana’, and healthcare facilities will be provided to the registered ‘Habisyalis’. A ‘Tulasi Chauran’ has also been made for them for the Kartika Brata, while facility for bathing will be provided near Narendra Puskarini.
They will be provided transportation to visit the temple every day, the sources added.
The Habisyalis, visiting Puri this year, are mostly from Khurda, Nayagarh, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Balasore, Cuttack and Dhenkanal districts. They took bath early in the morning at Narendra Puskarini and offered puja in Jagannath Temple.
For their safety, fire brigade, doctors, ambulance and police were deployed at the centres.
