Chandbali: People of Balabhadrapur Sasan in this block of Bhadrak district are still continuing with a 200-year-old tradition of performing Sharadiya Durga Puja.
Every year, the festival is celebrated for 16 days in the village, located near the Bhadrak-Chandbali road.
The festival that is said to have bound people together over years has its origins in the olden days of royalty. The royals of Kanika had enshrined the idol of Goddess Parbati in a temple at the village.
The Durga Puja begins from Mulastami and concludes on Mahanavami. It draws a huge number of devotees. Sixteen Brahmin families living in the village take the responsibility of Durga puja every day in turns.
On Mahastami Day, the Goddess is worshipped in Singhabahini attire. Old timers recalling the days said, “The festival used to have regular cultural programmes in the evenings while all the households would prepare varieties of cakes. The villages used to come together to celebrate the Puja with festive fervour. But over the years, the interest of people in taking part in the festivities has certainly come down. Gradually the festival is losing its charm.”
The village was named after 28th King of Rajkanika, Balabhadra Bhanjdeo (1803-1817). The reason for setting up this village is interesting. Astrologers decoded the horoscope of the King and found a threat to his life. To avert the threat to the King, the astrologers had suggested that the he set up a village to the south of a cremation ground where some Brahmins would be rehabilitated.
The suggestion was implemented. Sixteen Brahmin families from various parts of Puri, Jajpur and Kendrapara were rehabilitated there. The families were given 819 acres of land for livelihood.
Pariskhit Mishra, a villager, said, “An elderly woman of Raula clan brought a stone image of Bana Durga from Naugorada and worshipped it near Ratneswar Mahadev temple. Later, the image of the Goddess was shifted to a temple in Balabhadrapur and worshiped there as Parbati. Those days the image would disappear and later reappear. But after the death of the elderly woman, the unusual incident has not been reported.”
PNN