BARGARH: Keeping up with traditions for more than 400 years now, residents of Bargarh district celebrated Sital Jatra recently. Observed with a belief that the presiding deity, Maa Samaleswari, will keep the people safe from summer illnesses, the observance is done just before the onset of peak summer.
Held on Tuesdays of the Chaitra month, the jatra kicks off after priests of Samaleswari temple here worship the goddess and take out a procession beating bells and drums. A branch of a neem tree, believed to be the symbolic replica of Maa Samaleswari, plays a pivotal role in the festival. The priests take the neem tree branch across Bargarh town and stop at several places for people to worship it. Some devotees apply cow dung around a small patch of land in front of their house and keep all their offerings to invite the deity to their doors.
They pour water, milk and ‘pana’ on the branch as offerings and worship the branch with flowers and vermilion. They also tie a red cloth to the branch seeking blessings and protection from summer illnesses like chicken pox, measles, mumps, heat stroke and many other diseases. The procession continues across the town till late night and the neem branch is then left at a cross-section of two roads.
Priest of Samaleswari temple Ratnakar Jhankar said years ago, a pox like summer disease became an epidemic and affected thousands of people. While people assumed it to be the outcome of the deity’s outrage, they started performing several rituals like Sital Jatra to propitiate the goddess. This year, Sital Jatra was observed last on April 12.