Thousands of devotees from far and wide thronged Bhograi , a block on the Odisha and West Bengal border, to take part in the Chadak Mela. It is the famous annual festival of prominent Shaivite seat where lord Chandaneswar presides.
For most of devotees while they have been part of the religious festival for years, they maintained that they have receivedunexplainable benefits by the grace of the lord. Significantly, most of them were from neghbouring Bengal and Jharkhand to participate in the festival on its final day on Thursday
Kamini marriage, while has been a part and parcel of the 13- day- long fest, the devotees under strict penance took part in the marriage ceremonies of lord Shiva.
“As per mythological belief on that day, the marriage of lord Shiva was solemnised with a demon named Kamini following latter’s wish. And according to old age tradition, lord Shiva goes to the house of Kamini in a procession and marriage takes place. Since the inauspicious marriage between lord Shiva and the demon takes place in the month of Chaitra (the last month of Hindu calendar), routine marriage is forbidden in the month,” opined a local Jadevesh Mishra.
“The marriage rituals are performed secretly in the deep night hours and devotees are not allowed to witness the marriage,” he said.
“As per the tradition, every year the lord goes in the form of Kalasa and marriage is solemnised. Next morning, he returns with Kamini to the temple and fishes are sacrificed as an offering to the demon princess. Next day the lord Shiva takes a bath in the sea and the temple is purified,’’ he added.
Discarding the theory that lord Shiva married a demon, the priests here maintained that marriage was symbolic one. “lord Shiva marries His desire (Kamana instead of Kamini) to overcome it. It is only a symbolic one to send a message that human being should get rid of their desire,” opined a servitor and temple trust board member.
During Pata Parva the patuas (devotees ) stay away from family and take one-time food in a day. They move out in processions by piercing their bodies with nails and dancing barefoot without caring the scorching heat of the sun.
Meanwhile, the district administration has made elaborate arrangements for smooth conduct of the event, which include maintenance of law and order and crowd control to prevent stampede like situation and food poisoning, etc.