Bali Yatra: A fair of culture, fun and entertainment

The 15th Purnima of the Shukla Paksha of the Kartika month is celebrated as Kartik Purnima festival. In this festival Bali Yatra' is held for about five days at 'Kartikeswar Shiva temple'. It holds a great significance for the poeple of Orissa.

CJ: PAYAL BHUT

Fri, Nov 13, 2009 10:50:37 IST

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Orissa News :

THE FULL moon day or the 15th Purnima of the Shukla Paksha (waxing moon) of the Kartika month is considered very auspicious. The full moon is usually in Taurus and therefore, exalted. At times, this festival can take place with the full moon in Aries- but it represents a strong and auspicious moon.

Usually this is the full moon in the month of November. It has many names including the Diwali of the Gods and Tripuri Purnima. This day marks the victory of Lord Shiva over the demon Tripuri. The Kartik Purnima festival also coincides with the Jain light festival and Guru Nanak's birthday.

In Orissa too, the month of Kartika and Kartik Purnima holds a very high significance. They celebrate Kartik Purnima with lot of fun and galore. The whole month of 'Kartika' is considered to be the most sacred for the pious Hindus. All of them take pre-dawn bath and visit temples. The last five days are considered more sacred, called 'Panchaka', the last day being the ‘Kartik Purnima’. Everyday they eat food only once in the afternoon which is known as 'Habisha'. They don't eat fish, meat, egg or any other non-vegetarian items.

The festival ‘Boita Bandana’ that is significant to the ancient history of Orissa for glory of the state. In olden days, the 'Sadhabas' (sea traders) used to sail off to distant islands like Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Ceylon for their trade by huge boats ('Boita'). Now, people float tiny boats made out of cork and coloured paper.

In the city of Cuttack, a big fair known as ‘Bali Yatra’ is held for about five days at ‘Kartikeswar Shiva temple’. The name of the festival is after this place because people believe that 'Sri Chaitanya', the great Vaishnavite saint of Bengal on his way to Puri landed on this day at Cuttack after crossing the sand-bed (sand is 'bali') of the river Mahanadi.

Bali Yatra festival in Orissa marks the culmination of all the religious festivities. Bali Yatra commemorates Orissa's ancient maritime legacy. Tourism of Orissa offers tours to Orissa during the Bali Yatra fair and festival so that you can get a glimpse of Orissa's rich cultural history and colourfull vibrant present on your tour of festivals in Orissa. The fair of Bali Yatra is attended by thousands of enthusiasts and is marked with fun and frolic at the riverbanks where countless shops selling food, clothes, curios and miscellaneous items and swings come up during the evenings. Bali Yatra at Cuttack has become a must visit place for all the denizens of millennium city. People from different parts of Orissa come in large numbers to witness and enjoy the Bali Yatra festival. Every year Bali Yatra draws a crowd of over two lakh people.

Apart from giant wheels, circus for entertainment, there are stalls of mouthwatering eateries like thunka purie, giant laddoos, jalebis and dahi vada for which Cuttack is famous. Everything is available in this mela, from expensive consumer durables, exquisite sarees, home appliance and furniture to the hand made toys that still enamor the Odias. The entire ambience gets charged up with happy air.

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