Jugar Yatra at Kuchipali in Bargarh, Odisha

Jugar Yatra in Kuchipali village of Bargarh District is a unique celebration. This is the only festival of its kind though some other villages of the same district have attempted in the last few years to organize one in their villages. It is true that western Orissa pays homage and gratefulness to the deities via a series of festivals but some rituals of those festivals do not go well with a majority of people. Amongst those, the practice of animal sacrifice has been objected several times in different ways. Protesting against this cruel ritual, the villagers commenced Jugar Yatra in 1985 where Jugars are offered to Goddess Kali declining the brutal convention of sacrificing animals in the name of devotion. A report by Himanshu Guru.

Goddess Kali in Kuchipali Village

In this festival mammoth Jugars are taken in a carnival and finally offered to Goddess Kali at her shrine located in the village. After the ‘Jugar’ is offered to the Goddess, it is distributed among the villagers and devotees present there. The inhabitants believe that offering the ‘Jugar’ and distributing it among the people fetches peace and prosperity to the village. The festival has become very popular and lakhs of devotees visit the remote village from different places of Orissa and some from the adjacent state Chhatishgarh. A report by Himanshu Guru.

What is ‘Jugar’

Jugar

Jugar is a cone-shaped food item made of parched boiled rice and jaggery, called Lia and Gur respectively in the local language besides coconut and 12 different kinds of palatable items, put together in a frame of 12 to 15 feet high. Jugars are offered to the mother deities including Goddess Durga and Kali. Normal size of Jugar prepared in houses and offered to the Goddess during occasions like Durga Puja, Bhai Jiuntia and Kali Puja ranges from ½ to 1 foot high. But the Jugars prepared for the ‘Jugar Yatra’ ranges from 8 to 15 feet approximately. And that is the prime attraction of the festival. The fiesta takes name from this recipe. Normally People make wishes and when their wishes are fulfilled they make Jugar and offer it to the divine mother. Of course some people also prepare without any wish but just out of devotion.

Preparation

Prepartion of Jugar for the Yatra begins four months ahead of the festival since the right quality of jaggery and fried paddy are available then. Jugar is a huge sized food structure and no compromise can be made in selection of its raw material, lest the formation may collapse at any point of time.

Motto of the festival

The Jugar Yatra of Kuchipali basically conveys the message to the society to propagate devotion without harming anybody else, human or animal. It is their way of conveying to the society that Gods and Goddesses can be pleased with non-vegetarian food materials. Slaying of a huge number of animals is not a essential ritual of worship. And even if this is a ritual, the tradition can be compromised and there is no harm in it.

Communal harmony

Jugar Yatra is not only about divine aspect, but it also sows seeds of communal harmony. The hamlet of Kuchipali houses people from all the religions and all of them take part actively in the festival. In the last years it has been observed that not only Hindus but Muslims have also prepared Jugars for the festival. They also take active part in the whole process. Not only just as members but sometimes have they become organizers of this festival. Again, despite prevalence of strong laws on equality, sometimes lower caste people, like Harizans are kept away of the social functions in some remote pockets. But Jugar yatra even counters this evil practice and people from these castes have taken leading part in the last years in this festival.

Kalash Yatra at Kuchipali

The Carnival

The Jugar Yatra carnival, locally called procession is the most fascinating part of this festival. People prepare life size Jugars, decorate them with gift papers, nylon clothes and other decorative stuffs and include it in the carnival that passes through the main road to finally reach the shrine of Goddess Kali in the village. Lakhs of people witness this incredible gala. Not only the Jugars, but musical extravaganza road shows are also part of the carnival. The festival is also a platform where a series of music and dance troupes showcase folk culture of the area. Amongst these, duldulibaza, namoguru, ramtali, karamsani, krushnaguru, ghantabadya, sankhadhwani etc. are the popular music-dance extravaganzas.

The silver Jugar

The ‘silver jugar’ is a noticeable element in the festival. In the last years, silver Jugars made of 21x21 kg parched rice and sugarcane molasses were witnessed. The Jugar was enclosed with a layer of silver sheet. The silver sheet was carved with drawings.

Bottom Line

In the name of custom, innocent animals are killed during festivals dedicated to Gods and Goddesses. This rite has become a tradition and the same is followed from generation to generation while the followers do not bother to pay heed to their conscience whether to slaughter innocent animals or not. But Jugar Yatra of Kuchipali in Bargarh district has discarded this ever going evil tradition and has successfully completed 29 years, which is proof to the fact that Goddess of course do not want innocent animals be killed in huge numbers in her name.

The Carnival for Jugar Yatra

If not used for God, It is useless

Karunamayee Durga Maa

All natural things around us, created for a noble reason, should be used only after offered to God. Because God has created the whole world and he has provided us with natural resources like flower, fruit, greenery, water, soil etc. Hence, being grateful to the provider, we should try to offer all affirmative stuffs to God. One can ask, if all the stuff will be offered to the almighty, what is left for us? Think practically, does God practically take away anything from us that we offer during worship? No. The flower, fruit or food stuff (that we offer as ‘Prasad’) can very well be used even after offering it to God. 

Mother gives birth to a child. Likewise God has created us and so she/he is our eternal mother or father. He loves us and so affectionately longs for things from us, like we expect gifts from our parents on our birthdays. Thus, if we really love God, we should offer him good stuff around us. 

One can think, we can’t sit for worship throughout the day to offer things to the God. But sages as well as mythological texts have solved this dilemma too. You don’t need to sit before the idol always to offer something, rather you just hold it in your hands and imagine that you are giving it to God and he is receiving it from you. That’s all. The process will take only a second, not even a minute. My personal feeling is that even if you don’t do so, still God is kind enough not to hurt you, but yes, if you do so, definitely He will be happy to bless you.

To explain the aforementioned notion let us analyze the lyrics of the famous devotional song - ‘Maili chaadar Odh Ke Kaise dwar tumhare aaun’. In this bhajan by great singer Hari Om Sharanam, the interlude says, “In pairon se chalkar tere Mandir Kabhi naa aaya, jahan jahan ho puja teri kabhi na sish jhukaya…..” The meaning says, “I’ve never visited any of your temples after having a walk with the help of my legs, I’ve never bowed down my head at any places of your worship”. The inner meaning of these rich lines is – the lyricist feels guilty of not visiting a temple using his legs or not bowing down his head before an idol and so these body parts are useless. This is the thinking style of great devotees, who want to dedicate all their efforts to God and when miss out, feel to be at fault.

For further understanding let me narrate a story – Once two friends were moving through the forest and came across with a tiger. One of the friends at once climbed a big tree. The other was unable to climb and so decided to lie down on the ground like a dead body to pretend the beast. The tiger went close to him and first observed his hands and behaved as if it did not get the thing it was expecting. Then it inspected his legs and went on observing all his body parts. Finally it spared him and returned back to the deep forest. 

The first man got down from the tree and asked his friend on the ground why the tiger did not made him its prey. The friend was also surprised and had not any answer. Subsequently, both of them went to a sage, who could read minds of both humans and animals to uncover the reason. The learned person used his special aptitude and explained the reason – The bear first observed his hands to find whether this individual has any day worshipped God using his hands and it found it to be negative. Then the animal approached his legs to check whether he has walked to a shrine to offer prayer utilizing his legs and it was again negative. Likewise it examined all the organs and found that none of those were used for God and hence rejected to make him its prey. It was a shame that even a beast rejected a human being since he never devoted a single effort to God.

The effect of the above notion can be witnessed in our daily life even today. I would like to narrate a real incident that occurred in my life in this context. My wife wanted to create a roof top garden and accordingly brought some flower plants along with their vases. She took care of the plants everyday and soon flowers were there in these plants. I wanted to pluck some flowers for daily worship, but she was of the opinion that the flowers should be in the plants for a beautiful scene. Not to displease her, I started praying God to make some other arrangement for the flowers and another lady volunteered me to take flowers from her garden. To my surprise I found that almost all the plants erected by my wife in the roof top garden dried up despite regular care in a couple of days. You may take it as a coincidence, but my belief, that everything should be used for God and if not used it is useless, earned a confirmation from the incident.

God loves us as His children and so waits for our gifts. These are very small things to offer, in comparison to our cherished big material wants for which we waste the whole of our life to earn. Again, it is not taken away from us after offering. So what is bad in offering the same to God?

Harishankar in Balangir District, A Temple Dedicated to Two Gods, Hari & Shankar

Harishankar idol in Harishankar of Balangir District, Odisha

Harisankar is a famous tourist attraction in the Balangir District of Odisha. While the picturesque natural scenery around the spot attracts a number of tourists across the year, the place is famous for the famous Harishankar temple, the abode of two Gods, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva of the Hindu trinity, which is a rare element. 

Balangir district headquarter is situated at a distance of 81 kilometers from Haishankar. Patnagarh and Kantabanji are the nearest big towns. Balangir is the nearest railway station. Rented vehicles are available in Balangir as well as Patnagarh and Kantabanji to reach Harishankar.

Natural sliding stone in Harishankar: A memorable experience

‘Anna Bhoga’ (meals) is available in the temple. You can book the meals in this number 9178824544. This is not the official number, but just for the tourists’ convenience I’ve given this number that is owned by one Mr. Amar. 

There is no online booking facility or any other mode of pre-paid meals booking is available so far. Also there are no big restaurants to dine around Harishankar. 

Besides spiritual legacy, the spot is also famous as a popular picnic spot in Odisha and neighboring Chhattisgarh. 

A zigzag water stream flows by the side of the temple. Taking an open air bathe in this stream is also much exciting. A natural slope in this stream is the special attraction. It offers the exciting feeling of sloping in the man-made water parks. A dancing Ganesh idol is also found in the premises. Harishankar is situated on the slopes of the beautiful Gandhamardhan hills.

Entrance Gate of Harishankar

Goddess Ghanteshwari Maa in Sambalpur, Odisha

Ghanteshwari Maa is the Goddess of bells. Bell is very much favorite to Her and so Her name is ‘Ghanteshwari’, means the Goddess of bells. The famous temple of Goddess Ghanteshwari is situated near Chiplima, in the Sambalpur District of Odisha, India. People offer bells to Maa Ghanteshwari along with other sacred stuff there.

The Goddess of Bells Ghanteshwari Maa, , Chiplima, Sambalpur, Odisha

Ringing the bell is an essential ritual of worship and the priest or worshipper need to ring a bell with every single rite during the worship. The concept is that the priest wants to draw attention of the God/Goddess with one of His/Her favorite sounds and secondly, as God or Goddess are the sovereign authority of this world, you need to please them with music during execution of their daily rituals.

One can see a lot of bells everywhere in the temple premises. These bells are offered by devotees to the Goddess either after fulfillment of their wishes or to make a wish before the deity.

Maa Ghanteshwari Temple is situated on the bank of Mahanadi River at a distance of 33 kilometers from the district Head Quarter Sambalpur. Mini local public bus facility is available up to Chiplima village from Sambalpur. The temple is around 1 kilometer from Chiplima village and 17 Km from Gosala, the town that opens to the nearest N.H.201. Nearest Railway stations are Hirakud or Sambalpur. The temple can be visited across the year, but one should avoid rainy season for convenience. The Chipilima Hydro Power plant is located near the temple on the same riverbank.  

'Danda' Dance Drama of Western Odisha

‘Danda’ Dance Drama of Western Odisha

‘Danda’ dance drama is a regional theatre format of Odisha. The performance includes live singing, dancing and acting by the artists. However, ‘Danda’ differs from region to region even in the state. Like ‘Danda’ of Ganjam is quite different from that of Western Odisha. Further, coming to western Odisha, different districts have their own styles (schools/format) but still the format is more or less the same. Here in this article we discuss about this western Odisha School of ‘Danda’ dance.

‘Danda’ dance of western Odisha displays some Hindu religious stories from mythology. Music and dance are the two most important components of this format. ‘Danda’ is performed only in the Hindu chaitra month of the year, when the group (normally the participants of this group are called ‘Dandua’) sets out with the Goddess and Her belongings from the village.

‘Chhatar’ (umbrella) is of prime importance to the Goddess and hence the persons who hold the ‘Chhatar’ and the Goddess maintain a disciplined life during that particular month. If I am not wrong, that is the only month when the Chhatars are kept open and during rest of the year, they are kept closed. An open ‘Chhatar’ symbolizes that the Goddess is in a live state, ready to answer to every prayer and action of the devotees.

On the invitation of the hosts, the troupe marches to the venue during daytime in a procession with drum beat and perform some worship right on that place where they are supposed to perform the dance drama at the night. In the local language, this practice is called ‘Pani Danda bhangiba’. Then they return to their place to take rest.

After the dusk the same day all troupe members reach the venue and the show begins. In Balangir, danda dance of ‘Sikuan’, ‘Khadjura’ and some other places are much popular. Magsira is a popular drummer (Dholia, the person who plays a dhol, means the folk drum of this area) in western Odisha.

After a couple of small performances like ‘Brushava’ dance and ‘Dhup Khel’ the actual performance begins from ‘Parva’ dance. A person, who is in vow, wears the prabha. It is believed that the Goddess herself remains present in that ‘Prabha’ (uttered as parbha in the local dialect).

Wearing the huge stuff, the person dances to the beats of dhol for around 20 minutes. The beats for this prabha dance is fixed, it is called ‘Sulha Khadi Baja’, which means 16 numbers of beats are played. With advancement of the performance gradually the person gets acquired by the deity and so dances with some such tough steps, which is purely impossible on the part of a normal human being. Like, he jumps to a big height during the dance, which is nearly impossible for a normal man. When the person enters to the extreme state, where he forgets himself, the priest comes near him and separates the ‘Prabha’ from him and then the person becomes normal.

The second item is normally ‘Hara-Parvati’ dance, where the two characters basically depict about the rituals. This is followed by appearance of Duti, the friend of Goddess Radha and then Radha herself enters into the frame followed by Krishna and then Binakalia. The plot is the eternal love story of Hindu Gods Radha and Krishna as depicted in the mythological books and they get paired till the end of the show.

However, some troupes display some other story backed by some other characters. Normally, ‘Danda Nacha’ continues for the whole night. Main musical instruments played in this show are Dhol and flute. Besides that Mandal, Gini (cymbals) and other percussions, sometimes Harmonium and in some cases even a keyboard synthesizer is played. Normally all the lady characters are also played by boys, attired with female wardrobes.

Unfortunately, with the advent of western culture, this folk dance form is on the verge of extinction like many other tribal or regional arts. In the last years, a ‘mixture danda’, which can be seen as a modern adaptation of the original ‘Danda’ was released and it became much popular in western Odisha. Subsequently, after coming of the Video album phase in Odisha, a number of ‘Danda’ albums were produced and released in the local market.

Goddess Tarini of Ghatagaan, Keonjhar, Odisha

Goddess Tarini of Ghatagaan, Keonjhar, Odisha

(Shree) Ram Mandir, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India

(Shree) Ram Mandir, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India

Lord Rama, Laxmana, Goddess Sita and Lord Hanuman in Ram Mandir, Bhubaneswar