BALASORE: Over five lakh devotees flocked to the Chandaneswar temple in Balasore's Bhograi block on Sunday on the occasion of Dwitiya Arghya of the Chadak Mela.
The rituals, Shiva-Kamini marriage, Neela Parva, and Maha Aarti, were conducted in an orderly manner. In the morning, temple trustee Tapan Kumar Panda, along with other servitors, carried the sacred pots (ghata), symbolising Lord Shiva, along with ceremonial flags and bamboo poles to the Kamini temple at Bhattapur village. After completing the rituals there, the sacred Shiva-Kamini pots were taken out in a grand procession towards the main temple.
The procession featured around 500 devotees carrying ritual items, accompanied by fireworks and traditional musical instruments like conchs, cymbals, bells and mridanga, creating a vibrant and spiritually charged atmosphere.
For the first time this year, musical performances by artistes from Bargarh and a women’s troupe from Amarapur of Purba Medinipur district in West Bengal drew special attention. Thousands of devotees and servitors were seen dancing in devotion.
More than 200 priests conducted rituals within the temple premises, while thousands of Kanwariyas performed Jalabhishek (water offering) to Lord Chandaneswar. Several Bol Bam devotees were also seen carrying water from the Neela pond to other Shaivite shrines.
Following the cleansing of Neela pond, the ceremonial wooden pole was lifted from the pond and taken near the Vrushabha gate where rituals were performed. Later, the Maha Aarti at Neela Pushkarini, the final Bekada display, and other rituals were completed, followed by the offering of Arghya. The concluding ritual of the Chadak Mela, the Pat festival, is scheduled to be held on Monday.