SAMBALPUR: The Sital Sasthi carnival in Sambalpur this year will have a touch of the Nabakalebara festival of the Trinity in Puri.
This time, tableaus that are an important part of the Sital Sasthi carnival have been designed on the theme of ‘Daru’ (holy Neem tree) for construction of new idols of the Trinity.
While the Banajaga Yatra of Nabakalebara is nearing completion with the Daru for Lord Jagannath scheduled to reach Puri on Friday, the entire ritual has caught the fancy of artists who are preparing the tableaus for Sital Sasthi carnival. They are recreating certain episodes of the Banajaga Yatra using bamboo, straw, gunny bags, ropes, thermocol and colour.
As a part of the carnival, the Jharuapada Sital Sasthi Yatra Committee has commissioned three separate carts to carry the Daru of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra. Artists will complete the work on the tableau by Friday.
Artist Susanta Kumar Badhei, who is making the tableaus of the Jharuapada Sital Sasthi Yatra Committee, said he gave the idea of recreating Daru to the committee and it readily accepted it. His idea is to promote Nabakalebara during the carnival as lakhs of visitors from across the State besides neighbouring Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand will witness it.
Apart from the sculptures of the ‘Daru’, Badhei is making a giant rhinoceros in a bid to promote conservation of the endangered species.
The festival committee is also organising the Nabakalebara of the Trinity at Brahmapura temple in Jharuapada, the oldest Jagannath temple of the region, said president of Jharuapada Sital Sasthi Yatra Committee, Ashok Dalpat. He added that the Nabakalebara of the three deities of Brahmapura is being undertaken for the first time since the temple was constructed 500 years back.
Toeing the Jharuapada line, Mudipada Sital Sasthi Yatra Committee is making a tableau on ‘Daru’ of Lord Jagannath. It will also display Garuda Pakshi, an image of Goddess Saraswati, Brahma Rakshas and a tableau on ‘Health is Wealth’ at the carnival.
The Nandapada Sital Sasthi Yatra Committee will exhibit Sahid Bhagat Singh, Swachh Bharat Mission besides several cartoon characters in their tableaus during the carnival.
The Sital Sasthi carnival is the biggest attraction of the festival which marks the divine marriage of Lord Shiva and Devi Parvati. During the carnival, the newly wed Lords are taken to their temple. While the divine marriage will be held on Friday night, the carnival would begin from Saturday afternoon and end on Sunday. As many as 8200 artistes from across the country will participate in the carnival.