KENDRAPARA: If Devi Durga is worshipped in many avatars, more is the variety of offerings made to Her by devotees during the 10-day festival. One of the offerings that seems an exception is the fish bhog offered to the goddess in Endar village under Derabish block of Kendrapara district.
While almost all Puja mandaps generally offer vegetarian ‘bhog’ to the deity, the 200-year-old puja conducted by Durga Prasan Acharya’s family offers fish to the Goddess as ‘Mahabhog’ which includes an elaborate platter of fish dishes including fries and curries.
“We offer fish and rice in earthen pots to Goddess Durga from Saptami to Dashami. This ritual is being followed for 200 years now according to the Tantra and Shakti tradition in which non-vegetarian food is a part of the offering to the deity,” said the chief patron of the Puja Durga Prasan Acharya. “The ritual began after my ancestors, who were Zamindars, moved to Endar village around two centuries ago.”
A devotee Sarat Das informed that previously, Hilsa fish was offered to the deity but after a hike in its price, Rohi was used as an alternative. “The unique bhog attracts many devotees to this Puja committee every year. Many devotees hold the belief that by consuming this fish bhog, all their desires would be fulfilled,” said temple priest Pitambar Mishra.
Many Bengali families who trace their origin to Bangladesh and have since decades settled in the seaside villages of Mahakalapada and Rajnagar blocks of the district, also make offerings to fish dishes to the Goddess during the Durga Puja festival.