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| June 4, 2010 | Orissa devotees celebrate 'Chandan Yatra' | |
Puri (Orissa): Scores of devotees are converging in the holy city of Puri to celebrate the 42 day-long festival of 'Chandan Yatra'. The festival that marks the end of a cycle of religious
festival began on May 16, the Hindu holy day of Akshaya Tritya. For the first
21 days garlanded idols of the deities are worshipped followed by a grand procession
of the Gods on ornamented palanquins with great pomp and show. The event ends
with a holy water patrol on decorated boats, which are accompanied by priests,
musicians and dancers. The rest of the 21 days of the festival are celebrated
inside the temples. "A paste made of Sandal wood and water is applied to the body
of the mighty Lord Jagannath everyday. It is celebrated for 42days beginning from
the third night of the Vaisakh and is celebrated till the night of full moon of
Jyestha (Hindu calendar)," said Laxmidhar Das, a priest. "We celebrate the 42
days as a special festival," he added. The devotees believe that people with illness
get miraculously cured of their ailments during the festival, which explains the
large number of visitors the event attracts every year. "This festival attracts
locals as well as visitors from other states, who come here to get their prayers
answered. Once a man suffering from paralysis, who had lost all hope of recovery
came here from Kanpur, said Harihar Panda, a devotee. "After coming to the festival
he saw God and fell down and became well again. He went back to his city told
everyone that he got healed after seeing God here," he added. |
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