Berhampur: Kumar Purnima, the popular festival of the youths, was celebrated across Odisha including Ganjam district where youths engaged themselves in gambling despite police crackdown. The festival this time was observed with much enthusiasm Sunday after two years of Covid19 restrictions. Despite rain and crackdown by the police, youths wearing new clothes engaged themselves in gambling, while the elders worshiped the Goddess Laxmi on the occasion.
In Ganjam district, gambling on Kumar Purnima night is considered auspicious and people here believe that Goddess Laxmi blesses those who indulge in gambling. Even the elders of the family give money to their children for gambling, said Ramesh Panigrahi, a senior citizen. The police have so far arrested 250 people in a span of seven days on the charge of gambling. However, police go slow on Kumar Purnima night as almost all families are engaged in gambling, a senior police officer said.
Meanwhile, Janhi Osha, a month long ritual of young girls also ended on the day. Popular folk songs like ‘Thia Puchi Narang’ and ‘Kumar Punei Janha Lo’ of young Odia girls in rural villages came to vibrate when several young dancers and singers sang traditional song and performed dance in a cultural programme organised by Berhampurbased Madhumaya Panigrahi Foundation on the occasion. The young artists from different areas of the state, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra performed folk and classical dances on the occasion. “In the last two years we have not organised cultural programme in physical mode due to the Covid pandemic situation,” said Sudipta Panigrahy.
As the situation improved, Kuamar Punei Janhalo- the popular annual cultural programme of the foundation returned to its preCovid grandeur, she said. The event not only helped to revive the extinct folk and dance culture of the state, but it also helped the talented young artists to showcase their skill in the platform, said Prafulla Jagannth Padhy, the president of the organisation. The aim of the programme is to preserve the cultural tradition of the district, said Hrusikesh Panigrahy of the organisation.
