Bhubaneswar: After the oldest Durga Puja pandals across the state, the Odisha government on Wednesday decided to extend financial support to Gajalakshmi Puja in Dhenkanal.
A total of 38 pandals in Dhenkanal will receive Rs 50,000 each from the Department of Odia Language, Literature, and Culture to help them continue with their tradition of worshipping Gajalakshmi.
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In total, Rs 19 lakh will be disbursed to the 38 pandals, the department informed.
Gajalakshmi puja is held on a massive scale for 11 days in Dhenkanal, where all chhaks and markets are decorated with colourful and decorative lights. The tradition dates back to 1923, when it was started with leaves and petronax lamps. Late Brajakishore Pattnaik, Natabar Debata, Gatikrushna Pattnaik, and a few others started the puja for the first time at Kunja Sahoo Chhak, which is known as Ganesh Bazaar today.
There were some hurdles in organising the puja in the following years till 1943, when Natabar Debata, Sanatan Sahoo, and a few others began celebrating again at Majhigarh, today’s Meena Bazaar. Thus, Debata is regarded as the founder of today’s Laxmi Puja and Meena Bazaar as the Maudamani Puja Pratisthan.
According to reports, the government is also mulling to provide Rs 1 lakh to Durga puja pandals that are a 100-year-old or more, Rs 75,000 to those that are 75-years-old and Rs 50,000 to pandals which have been organising the festival for five decades now. The move is on the lines of support extended to other festivals like Sahi Jata, Dhanu Yatra, Sital Sasthi and Daspalla Lanka Podi.
Among those that will receive the financial aid are puja pandals where the tradition of Durga Puja dates back to 50 years, 75 years and 100 years.
