The seaside villagers of Mangarajpur under Rajnagar block on Saturday organised a yajna and worshipped cattle by offering them sweet concoction (Pana). The objective was that the cow would bless the villagers which would help prevent natural calamities.
Notably, every year on the occasion of Pana Sankranti, the villagers organize the three-day long yajna by inviting the sadhus of Alekha Mahima and on the third day, the special cow worship is held in a field outside the village before the sunrise. The practice is going on for more than 50 years.
According to Jagannath Das, a villager, to prepare the unique cow worship, every year the villagers invite cows in and outside their village a couple of days before the yajna by sending betel nuts with messengers. Accordingly, the locals and their adjoining villagers bring their cows and gather them at an orchard outside the village before the sunrise.
later, the disciple of Alekha Mahima come to the spot and worship the God with Pana which is prepared by mixing different types of fruits, water, milk, pulp of bela, curd and sugar. later, the locals take the pana and move around the cattle for seven times. Then they keep the sweet concoction in pots at the four directions connecting to the village.
“The reason behind such unique thing performed every year by the villagers is to ward off evil spirit from the village and to protect the village from the natural calamities, besides saving the mother cow from all sorts of diseases,” said Dharanidhar Rout, a resident of Mangarajpur .
In Hindu mythology the cow is considered the mother of all including Gods and humans. She is considered to be the living symbol of mother earth as 33 crores of gods and goddesses reside in a cow’s being. So if one propitiates the mother cow, then there is no need to worship different gods and goddesses in different manner, justifies Krupasindhu Rout, a local.