Dhenkanal: After a break of 2 years due to COVID induced lockdown, Odisha’s Dhenkanal town has geared up for a grand celebration of Laxmi Puja from Sunday.
Like Durga Puja in Cuttack, Laxmi Puja in Dhenkanal has been celebrated with community participation with pomp and grandeur for the last 75 years. The celebration starts from Kumar Purnima and continues for 11 days. This year, the local administration has given its approval to 38 puja committees to set up their pandals across the town.
The puja committees have engaged the local artisans as well as those from outside the state for construction of the Laxmi idols and decoration of the pandals. Ganesh Bazaar Puja Pratisthan, a puja committee, has brought skilled workers from Bangladesh and procured 500 pieces of bamboo for creating a massive facade in front of the pandal.
Here, the gates and welcome facades are mostly built with bamboos and clothes of different colours. The pandal wears a festive look at night with colourful decorative lights covering the area with music playing in the background. Besides, the people of the town, those from outside the district also visit Dhenkanal to participate in the celebration.
The district administration has made elaborate arrangements to ensure security and traffic management during the 11-day Laxmi Puja. In order to ensure smooth movement of vehicles, the administration has prevented heavy vehicles from entering the town and issued special permits to four-wheelers to move inside the town between 4 pm and midnight. Similarly, special arrangements have been made for parking of the vehicles at puja pandals.
