BERHAMPUR: Curtains came down on Thakurani Yatra on Tuesday as Goddess Budhi Thakurani returned home after 32-day sojourn.As per legend, the chief of Dera community, in the month of Chaitra, had offered shelter to the Goddess who was disguised as a young lady. The deity accepted the chief as her father and said she would visit his house every two years. Thus, the tradition of Thakurani yatra began.
This year, the yatra covered around 104 areas of the city including Sana Bazaar, Bada Bazaar, Santarani Sahi, Marthapeta Sahi, Keuta Sahi, Shankarpur Sahi, Jena Sahi, Batchubari Sahi, Kedareswar Road and Chandrama Sahi. The month-long festival had started on March 29 with Sahasrakshi ghatam representing the reigning deity of the city leaving for her temporary abode at Desibehera street.
More than two lakh devotees from Berhampur and different parts of the State participated in the festival. The colourful ghatam procession started from Desibehera street at around 11.45 pm on Monday. It reached the temple at around 4.45 am. The celebrations continued and a large crowd remained near the temple till sunrise. The procession was led by the ‘Sahasrakshi ghatam’ followed by eight other ghatams.
When the procession reached the main temple, all earthen ghatams were destroyed except the main ghatam representing the deity. In order to maintain law and order, around five platoons of police force were deployed near the temple.