TALCHER: The famous nine-day Maa Hingula Jatra took off at Gopalprasad village under Talcher block here on Monday though with Covid restrictions.
However, all customary rituals were carried out amid safety protocol, as the goddess appeared in the form of fire at Hingula temple.
While devotees flock to the ‘pitha sthala’ every year to seek darshan of the goddess, this year was different as gatherings were banned by the district administration and all entry routes sealed by police.
“We had deployed two platoons of police force at Gopalprasad where Maa had appeared, to prevent crowd. The first day of the jatra was peaceful and no untoward incident reported,” said IIC of Colliery police station Sabyaschi Rout.
Legend has it that Maa Hingula, who is the presiding deity in the kitchen of Jagannath temple in Puri, leaves the temple on this day to give darshan to devotees.