After Thakurani Yatra ended here, the work of next famous biennial Pancha Thakurani Yatra of Purushottampur, 20 km from here, has begun with the performance of ‘Daka Bana’ by chief of the festival (known as Adhikari) Ramakanta Das.
The Yatra is being organised in the town for the last seventy years, said Das. Unlike the Thakurani Yatra of Brahmapur, the Pancha Thakurani Yatra of Purhottampur is held once in every two years, he revealed.
One of the most of significant aspects of the yatra, which is essentially different from Brahmapur Thakurani Yatra, is that five deities (Pancha Thakurani) namely Maa Kamala Thakurani, Maa Kalua Thakurani, Maa Phulla Sundari Thakurani, Maa Kali and Maa Tara Tarini are being worshiped together by lakhs of devotees in a single religious platform, said Das. Notably, Purushottampur is the home constituency of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Das invited the Pancha Thakurani known as “Daka Bana” and the Subha Khunti was placed near the abode of the deities on May 3.
The yatra will commence from May 13 and will continue till June 10. For smooth and peaceful conduct of the yatra, a five -member committee has been constituted which is led by Das. The members of the committee include Durga Prasad Das, Krushna Chandra Das, Prahallad Sahu, Gyanaranjan Sahu and Iswar Gouda, respectively.
As per the tradition, during the period of the yatra, Prahallad Natak, Rama lila and Giti Natya etc will beperformed. Around five lakh devotees are expected to witness the yatra. Govind Das, Yugal Prasad Das and Ramakanta Das were three successive Adhikaris of the age old festival.