Thakurani Yatra, a world famous biennial heritage festival, entered the seventh day on Thursday here. Thousands of devotees across the country braved the hot summer to have a darshan of Maa Budhi Thakurani as a means to fulfill their wishes.
The flow of devotees to the Silk City here increased every passing day. As per tradition, the Thakurani visited to her Mausi’s (who is Kumuti by Vaisya caste) house at Jaura Sahi on Thursday after performance of a well laid out rituals, including Puja, Alati and offering of bhog at Mahuri Rajabati. Sreenu (the uncle of Maa Thakurani) and his family members escorted and welcomed Maa Thakurani to their house, where she stayed for some time and took different Pithas and delicious food stuff of her choice, including Arnna Prasanna and Dahi Bhata (curd rice) to reduce the impact of summer. Throughout the day, the Goddess stayed in a temporary abode to provide open darshan to her devotees, while a sea of devotees waited in a queue to avail the darshan amidst beating of Ghanta, Sankha, Mahuri and presentation of dances.
From Mahuri Rajbati, Maa Thakurani was taken in a procession to different parts of Bada Bazar and again to Pattra Street, Mangalbaram Petta, Ellu Behera Sahi and Chandrama Sahi. The entire route was richly illuminated to welcome the ‘Ghata’ of the deity by women devotees who were eagerly waiting to perform puja. In the late night, the Ghata of Maa Thakurani was returned back to her temporary abode. To avail darshan, many devotees congregated at the Desibehera Sahi. As per the preordained schedule, Maa Thakurani would return back to her main temple on April 29.
A temporary 11-foot tall temple has been constructed by hereditary craftsmen using casuarinas logs and leaves with a ‘sihanshana’ (pedestal) at the west side of the temple to welcome and accommodate the deity.
To avoid any untoward incident, the district administration deployed eleven platoons of police and installed close circuit cameras in different locations for safety and security of the devotees and smooth performance of the fest.
The BMC and several NGOs opened a large number of Jala Chhatras (water kiosks) for the devotees.