Month long 'kartik brata' comes to an end with holy dip

Puri, Nov 02 : Over five lakh devotees took holy dip in the Mahodadhi (a stretch of Puri sea from Swargdwar to Chakratirth), offered prayers to the rising Sun God and thronged the Jagannath temple for darshan of the Lord Jagannath today.

As per the Hindu calendar the last five days of Kartik month was considered most auspicious. The devotees who could not able to observe the month long ''Kartik Brata'' observe these five days popularly known as 'Panchuka'.

Today being the Kartik Purnima the concluding day of the month long observation of the brata, lakhs of devotees from across the state thronged to this holy city to conclude the brata.

The devotees took holy dips in the five most sacred ponds located in and around the city and visited at least five shiva temples before concluding the brata.

The bathing ghat of Narendra, Swetaganga, Markanda, Indradyumna and the sea besides the temple of lord Jagannath witnessed heavy rush of devotees who floated small boats into the sea and the various ponds in the city to mark the reminisce the sailing of the merchant of the ancient kalinga kingdom to far east to conduct the trade.

Police had a tough time to regulate the pilgrim and vehicular traffic. Elaborate arrangements were made in the holy city for the smooth conduct of this annual ritual.

The devotees also witnessed the famous ''sunasvesh'' (Golden attire) of the presiding deities of the Jagannath Temple inside the sanctum sanctorum last night.

Heavy rush of the devotees was also reported inside the temple's Mahaprasad market, popularly known as 'Anand Bazaar'. The temple authority had rescheduled the day's rituals to facilitate offering of additional 'mahaprasad' to meet the demand of the devotees during the last five days.

The holy month also witnessed tragic incidents in which at least eight people, including four engineering students drowned in the sea, despite warning not to venture into the sea for a bath without the help of the life guard deployed by the authority.

--UNI

(c) 2009 Published with permission from United News of India.
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