Bhubaneswar: People across the state Monday offered prayers for Mahalaya, the last day of Pitru Paksha.
The Goddess Durga arrives on her yearly sojourn to Earth as Devi Paksha is set to begin Tuesday. Like every year, most Odia households wake up at the crack of dawn today to accord the Mother Goddess a ritualistic welcome by offering prayers.
On the auspicious occasion, people across the state visited different temples to offer ‘Shradha’ (homage) to their ancestors.
Scores of devotees throng the Lord Jagannath Temple in Puri for ‘tila tarpan’ and ‘pind daan’ on ‘Baisipahacha’ early this morning.
Similarly, Bindusagar in Bhubaneswar also witnessed heavy rush to offer puja.
The word “Mahalaya” is formed by two words “Maha” or grand and “Alaya” meaning abode.
According to the Hindu mythology, it is believed that Goddess Durga comes to her parental house along Karthik, Ganesha, Lakshmi and Saraswati and stays there for five days, before leaving for Lord Shiva’s house on the last day, Dasami.
PNN