Tracing The History Of Laxmi Puja In Odisha As Dhenkanal & Kendrapada Soak In Festive Spirit

Dhenkanal/Kendrapada: Goddess Laxmi has set her foot on the land, as Odisha and other parts of India, are all set to celebrate Gajalaxmi Puja for the next few days.

Several places in Odisha welcome Maa Laxmi in a frenetic way. Dhenkanal and Kendrapada are the two districts in the state, where Laxmi Puja, which began on October 28, is held in a lavish scale every year.

In Dhenkanal, the festival lasts 11 days. All chhaks and markets in the town are decorated with colourful and decorative lights and pandals on creative themes. The town attracts a lot of crowd from different places across Odisha and India. The history of this festival in Dhenkanal dates back to 1923, when it 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 it in the following years till 1943, when Natabar Debata, Sanatan Sahoo, and a few others started the puja 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. This year, 38 pandals will worship Maa Laxmi.

Laxmi Puja is a century-old tradition in Kendrapada. It was started in the year 1922-23 on the arrival of  ‘Badababaji ‘ Shri Shri Radharaman Deb. It was first celebrated in front of ‘Bada Kotha’. Gajalaxmi Puja was first started in present-day Kendrapada in 1928 at Old Bust Stand. It is being celebrated for nine decades since then. Starting from ‘Kumar Purnima’, this festival is celebrated for seven days. Lakhs of people participate in the festivities, which concludes with a two-day immersion celebration.

The celebration, which was once confined to 10 places, has now spreads to the whole of Kendrapada town. This year, Maa Laxmi will embrace 68 pandals across the coastal district. New bus stands, Tinimuhani, Kapaleswar, Duhuria, Sadbhavana Club, among other, are putting all efforts to make their pandals attractive.