Jharsuguda: Dussehra was celebrated at Bhubaneswari Durga Temple on the premises of Odisha State Armed Police’s 2nd Battalion in Jharsuguda in a grand manner on Sunday.
Dussehra is celebrated here by the Nepalese Gorkha community in Odisha where members actively take part in festivities adhering to the traditions followed in Nepal.
All members of the Gorkha battalion are from Nepal, and they keep the traditions alive. Priests perform the puja accordingly, a devotee said.
Seeds of five different crops were sown during Navratri, and the sprouted seeds are offered to devotees on Dussehra as a symbol of blessing and prosperity, said sources.
People from different parts of Jharsuguda and Sundargarh districts throng OSAP 2nd Battalion during Durga Puja to attend the festivities.
According to Nepalese culture, devotees take home Jamara and Tika. They add rice and curd to it, and then elders of the household offer it to others in the family as blessings.
“Elders put the tika and jamara on the forehead of younger relatives to bless them with abundance in the coming years. Red also symbolizes the blood that ties the family and community together,” the devotee added.
The community also performs Durga Puja at the temple which is themed on the famous Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu, said sources.