Bolangir: The Sulia Yatra was marked by mass animal sacrifice at Khairaguda village under Deogaon block in this district Tuesday.
The festival, celebrated on the second Tuesday of the lunar fortnight of Hindu month of Pausha, witnessed the sacrifice of thousands of animals and birds before the deity Sulia.
The administration, which had been fighting to bring an end to the gory practice, stood helpless and watched the proceedings as a mute spectator. The animals were sacrificed at the main Sulia shrine at Badakhala, at Sanakhala in Kumuria and in adjoining areas of the shrine.
The administration which had a face-off with the festival organising committee over animal sacrifice was found to have retreated on the issue.
The police were found concentrating on managing law and order in and around the shrine. The animal sacrifice started at 8 am after the priests performed some rituals at the main Sulia shrine at Badakhala atn the foothills of Sulia.
The priests known as ‘Baruas’ marched in processions to the beatings of dholaks and other traditional musical instruments from Khairaguda village to the main shrine where the head priest Somanath Deheria performed some rituals.
Similar rituals were also performed at Sanakhala after which the animals were sacrificed to propitiate the deity.
Lakhs of devotees from Bolangir, Subarnapur, Kalahandi, Bargarh, Sambalpur, Nuapada, Boudh and Kandhamal districts and from Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand thronged the shrine with their offerings and sacrificial animals.
The organisng committee found the occasion to propagate the reason behind the animal sacrifice by giving talks on tribal traditions and culture from a stage erected at Khairaguda.
Leader of Opposition in state Assembly Narasingha Mishra, who is also the Bolangir MLA, visited the shrine at Khairaguda and paid his obeisance to the deity. He later had a talk with the organisers on spending of government grants for development of the shrine.
Among others, , president of Bolangir Central Cooperative Bank Lakshman Kumar Meher, sub-collector Bhairab Singh Patel, SDPO Narayan Nayak, Deogaon tehsildar and Tushra IIC were present on the occasion. Three platoons of police were deployed at the spot to manage law and order. PNN
