Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Sital Sasthi: Divine wedding laces in the human practices

Balibandha
When all human beings are the creation of God, only few are fortunate enough to get the opportunity to become the parents of the divine spirits to hold the divine wedding. But the 300 odds years traditional annual fest that depicts the marriage ceremony of lord Shiva and Parvati provides opportunity to every one to take part in the ceremony which has been performed with all intricacies of human rituals.
 The fest that is commonly known as 'Sital Sasthi' which has begun in Sambalpur from Saturday with the celebration of Patrapendi (negotiation), The festival will continue till 8th June after the return of newly wedded divine couple to their respective temples. Elaborate arrangement has been made by the respective Yatra committees to hold the marriage ceremony of the god and goddess in various places in Sambalpur on Monday night. The town procession will begin on Tuesday and it will continue till Wednesday afternoon.
Nandapara
Sources said the main attraction of the festival is the marriage ceremony of the lord Shiva with Parvati which commence as per the human rituals. A couple is selected to perform the marriage who would adopt Maa parvati as daughter. All retuals like going barat to bride’s house, panigrahan and kanya bidaya are being performed at the bride’s house in the similar way happens in human marriages.
 “The festival is though based on the marriage of lord Shiva and Parvati, it is done as per the rituals going on in the human society. When human couple becomes the divine’s father and mother to perform the divine's marriage, god becomes the family members of a human being”, Senior member of Yatra coordination committee Amulya Mishra said.
Modipara
In patrapendi members of the Yatra committee go to the house of the respective bride house to negotiate the marriage of Lord Shiva with their daughter Parvati. During the time, they also finalize the date and time of the marriage. Latter on the day of marriage they come in a barat to the bride’s house to solemnize the marriage.  
Jharuapara Kanya pita /mata
Sources said, Sital Sasthi is a week long festival that begins from 2nd day and concludes on the 8th day of Jyesta (June-July) every year. Though there is no exact evidence to describe when the festival was first taken place in Sambalpur but as per the available document and evidence it is presumed that the festival is about 300 years old. “The present temple of Bom Barad Balunkeswar (lord Shiva) located at Nandapara was constructed in the year 1780-81. But prior to the construction of the temple Sital Sasthi was celebrated in the place. So we presumed that the festival is 300 years old in Sambalpur” senior member of Nandapara Yatra committee Prafulla Hota said.   According to him Sital Sasthi is mainly observed in Jharuapara, Nandapara, Modipara and Badbazar be the respective Yatra committees However Sital Sasthi is also performed in Balibandha, Thakurpara, and Budharaja area of Sambalpur town
Nandapara Kanyapita mata
While Motilal Dash has been selected as the Kanyapita of Jharuapara Yatra committee and Bhupendra Kumar Dash has been for Modipara committee,   Surendra Mohanty has been for Badbazar Yatra committee. Byomkesh Panda has been selected for Balibandha Yatra committee and JayaNarayan Sarangi has been selected as the Kanyapita for Nandapara Yatra committee.  


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