Bhubaneswar: A consignment of 380 kilograms of Basunga Pata, a sacred silk cord used in the rituals of Lord Jagannath and the sibling deities, was dispatched to the Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) from the premises of the Odisha State Cooperative Tasar and Silk Federation (SERIFED) at Shaheed Nagar in Bhubaneswar.
Odisha Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts Minister Pradeep Bal Samanta flagged off the consignment after offering prayers. Basunga Pata is a strong and sacred silk thread that forms an integral part of the rituals associated with the annual Rath Yatra and other temple festivals. It is used to prepare Bijaya Dori (victory cord), Paita (sacred thread), Rakhi, and other ceremonial items for the deities of the Jagannath Temple.
SERIFED has been supplying Basunga Pata to the temple administration since 1981. This year, the federation has provided 380 kilograms of the sacred silk cord for temple use.
Basunga Pata is produced from mulberry silk cocoons cultivated mainly by tribal sericulture farmers in Mohana and R Udayagiri blocks of Gajapati district. The thread is dyed using a natural adhesive extracted from kaitha (wood apple) fruit collected from Koraput district.
