Budi Thakurani Yatra when the goddess Comes Home
Budi Thakurani Yatra when the goddess Comes Home
The biennial Maa Budi Thakurani Yatra is held during the month of Chaitra (March /April) and is the main festival of Ganjam. The festival commences when the Desibehera (head of the weaver community) along with his wife dressed in traditional attire visits the Budi Thakurani Temple with an invitation for the goddess to visit her paternal home.
A temporary temple – depicting her paternal home is built at the Desibehera locality, to welcome the goddess. An interesting feature of the Yatra is hundreds of Vesadharies (people in disguise of mythological figures like Krishna, Hanuman etc) along with chariots, palanquins and processions which engulfs the region just like flash mobs.
The festival is celebrated with the concept that after her marriage, the Goddess returns to her paternal home, where is she doted and pampered just like a daughter who comes to her paternal home after marriage.
The jatra is marked by procession in the evening, where the Goddess is taken to various localities of the city, where the residents come to the streets to pay their obeisance, reminiscent of a daughter visiting her relatives when she comes home.
The festival is marked with festivities throughout the month, night long Jatra (a form of popular theatre in Odisha) accompanied by music and dance fill up the night. People take to the streets and partake in the extravaganza throughout the night.
