euphoria begins in Sambalpur with Sital Sasti Jatra

(file photo)

The euphoria begins in Sambalpur with the preparation of the longest moving festival Sital Sasti Jatra that begins from Sunday with “Patrapendi” or marriage negotiation of Nandapara Yatra committee. The Yatra that runs for about a week is expected to fetch lakhs of devotees and pilgrims to witness the holy festival. The festival will be concluded with a grand procession of the newly-married couple on 30th May. However the Yatra committee members expressed concern over the attitude of the state government for not declaring it a ‘state festival’ despite its age old tradition.
“The state government has not yet recognized the festival despite its age-old tradition. What to talk of a ‘tourist package’ when the festival does not place in the state calendar as holiday. Several time we put forth our demand before the government to give proper attention but every time our demand remains unheard. It becomes difficult for us to maintain the 400 years old tradition if the government does not patronize us”, Badal Dani, the president of the joint coordination committee of Sital Sasti Yatra told.
Sources said, The 400 year old festival revolves with the marriage ceremony of lord Shiva with goddess Parvati. The entire process of the marriage of the lord Shiva and Parvati is done as per the prevailing human tradition. Human beings become the parents of Lord Shiva and goddess Parvati and perform the marriage as like their own son and daughter. The Yatra is mainly organized in three temples of Jharuapara, Nandapara and Modipara. But over the past few years youths of several other places including Badbazar and Budharaja have taken initiatives to begin yatra in their respective places. “Yatra is mainly organized in Jharuapara, Nandapara and Modipara. So we have formed a Joint co-ordination committee to make the festival more attractive”, the senior member of the committee Prafulla Hota said.
Sources said, the festival was initially organized by the two sects of Brahmin community of Jharuapara and Nandapara. The Brahmin resides in Jharuapara is known as ‘Aranyak’ the Brahmin resides in Nandapara is known as “Utkaliya”. Though people of both communities are socially and culturally powerful still there was a socio-cultural difference among them because of their different origins. So there was a sense of ‘rivalry’ among their mind-set which was apparently reflected during the organization of the festival. The festival was organized by them every year uninterruptedly because of the competitive mentality between the two sects.
“Perhaps the competition between the two groups of Brahmin was the secret of the festival that has remained alive since a long time and being organized every year uninterruptedly”, eminent social activist Bhagawat Nanda told. However joining of Modipara in late 70s and formation of a joint coordination committee of the 3 Yatra committees, Sital Sasti Yatra got a new dimension, he added.
According to the Historians, the festival was initially being organized in the Somnath temple of Balibandha in a simple form. Later People of Jharuapara followed the tradition and performed the marriage ceremony of Loknath Baba. But few others believed that the festival was initiated by the people of Nandapara and to commemorate the festival the present Balunkeswar temple was constructed in 1776 with the active support and patronage of than King Narayan Singh. “Though we do not have any concert evident to prove the origin of the festival still from the old document and evidences we believe that the festival is more than 400 years old”, the senior member of the coordination committee Prafulla Hota reiterated.
Sources said, Sital Sasti is perhaps the only such kind in Hindu festival where a devotee gets an opportunity to become the parents of goddess Sakti and to perform her marriage with lord Shiva. The marriage is performed in prevailing local tradition and culture and the entire process of marriage is similar to the marriage of a human being. Lord Shiva goes in a barat with the local people to the house of the selected parents to marry goddess Parvati. People are eager to perform the role of the parents of goddess Parvati to give her panigrahan like their own daughter spending lakhs of rupees. Looking to the demand of the devotees the each Jatra committees have a long waiting list of aspiring parents. “We have prepared a list of aspirant parents and selected as per the list. It is believed that your berth is reserved in heaven if you become the bride’s parent even for a single occasion. So every one of Sambalpur wants to become the bride’s parents for one occasion during his entire life time”, the eminent president of the Jharuapara Yatra committee Saroj Dalpat said. This time the Pradeep Babu of Nandapara has been selected as the bride’s parent, Mohan Chand Tulasyan of Marwadipara is the bride’s parents of Jharuapara Yatra committee and Omprakash Agrawal of LNMishra lane is the bride’s parents of the Modipara Yatra committee. The marriage of Lord Shiva will be held on 28th followed by a grand street procession on the next night that will continue till 30th afternoon.