Pendrani Yatra held in Odisha with fervour

Devotees from all over the State as well as neighbouring Chhattisgarh thronged the area to participate in the yearly sojourn.
Pendrani Yatra in Umerkote. (Photo | Express)
Pendrani Yatra in Umerkote. (Photo | Express)

UMERKOTE:  Pendrani Yatra of the local diety in Umerkote was held on Sunday amid great fanfare and tight security. Devotees from all over the State as well as neighbouring Chhattisgarh thronged the area to participate in the yearly sojourn.

Legend has it that people of a small village of Pendrahandi, situated in Chhattisgarh, worshipped the soul of Pendrani, a married girl who was the victim of  secret jealousy of her own brothers. Her husband was overtly pampered by her parents and stayed in their house without doing any work.

The four brothers, out of sheer jealousy, conspired and killed her innocent husband and buried him in their field. Sensing foul play, Pendrani jumped into the pyre of her husband and died. Her spirit is believed to be roaming in the village and helped those who believed in her supernatural avatar.

Locals hailed her sacrifice and constructed a temple in her name at Umerkote along with observing a grand annual two-day festival every year to pay their reverences. Originally a tribal Goddess, her popularity grew over time giving rise to the Pendrani cult which contests male predominance.

The festival sees men playing the role of the Goddess to signify male subjugation and compensate for the injustice inflicted on Goddess Pendrani before she achieved divinity. 
 

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