The Hanuman Jayanti was celebrated with a lot of joy in Jeypore. The members of the Agrasen Samaiti, the Marawadi Manch and the Biswa Hindu Parishad celebrated the festival by having a long tilak or paste of vermillion on their foreheads. Many devotees also observed a day -long fast to commemorate the day.
Apparently, the lord Hanuman stands for the orange-red vermillion, which is why people smeared the paste on their foreheads on the day.
It is believed that divine and celestial bodies came down to the earth and took physical forms of creatures that seemed like apes and their orange-red coloured ‘vanara’ came into being much before the Hindu epic of the Ramayana.
lord Hanuman was worshipped at different temples of Jeypore with yangyas and chanting of mantras. The worship programme was started at about 5 am and during this, the Kalshabhishek was done. The devotees paid their respect to lord Hanuman by aarti and kirtan.
The Agrasan Samiti and the Marwadi Yuva Manch had arranged a special programme to mark the Hanuman Jayanti. A procession of the lord was taken out starting from the Ram Mandir at Rajanaghar to the Hanuman Mandir at Agrasen Bhawan covering all the major roads. Almost all the family members of the Marwadi Samaj carrying saffron flags and chanting the Hanuman Chalisa participated in the rally with a wonderful Rath carrying the idol of lord Hanuman.
On the occasion a prasad sevan was organized for all the devotees of the town and also a special bhajan programme was organized to mark the Jayanti by Kamal Vasisth and his troupe from Cuttack. Butter milk and other juice were distributed among the public.