CUTTACK: Shakti shrines across Cuttack wore a festive look on Sunday with the beginning of the 16-day Sharadiya Durga Puja.
Chandi Mandir was decorated with flowers on the lines of Jagannath Temple in Puri during Rath Yatra. The decorations were undertaken by a group of 25 youths of the city with an expenditure of Rs 1.5 lakh.
As many as 10 flower decorators from Kolkata were engaged for the floral decoration, said a group member Kiran Kumar Sahu, adding that the temple would be decorated with flowers and fruits during Dussehra. The Gada Chandi temple was also decorated on the occasion.
Apart from Cuttack Chandi and Gada Chandi temples, Goddess Charchika in Banki, Tripura Sundari Maa Bhattarika in Badamba, Goddess Pragala in Narasinghpur, Goddess Durga in Tigiria, Goddess Hara-Chandi in Nischintakoili, Goddess Dhumabati in Choudwar are the prominent Shakti Pithas where Saradiya Durga Puja, also called ‘Parbana’, is celebrated.
During the puja, presiding deities of these Shakti shrines wear different attires daily and are adorned with weapons and ornaments. Rituals of ‘Sodasha Upachara Puja’ are performed daily with recital of hymns of ‘Chandi Patha’, performing ‘Homa’ and offering of ‘Pana’ from Mulastami to Bijaya Dasami day.
Devotees celebrate the puja in a pious manner by offering delicacies including fish as ‘bhoga’.