Thousands of devotees thronged Dhabaleswar temple at Athagarh in Cuttack district for a glimpse of the deity on the special occasion of popular festival ‘Bada Osha’ on Wednesday.Lord Dhabaleswar is giving darshan to the devotees in famous ‘Badasinghara Besha’.As per reports, the ‘Dwara Phita’ (opening of door) ritual of the temple was conducted at 3am today. Subsequently, all other rituals were performed and the devotees were allowed to have darshan of Lord Dhabaleswar in His divine attire.On this occasion, ‘Gaja Bhoga’ (a special cake), made of rice flour, jaggery, cardamom and coconut and ‘Tarana’ is offered to the deity amid ‘Taryodashi’ and ‘Chaturdashi’. There are some special rituals for preparing and offering it to the Lord Dhabaleswar. After the puja, the ‘Gaja Bhoga’ will be distributed among the devotees.Elaborate security arrangement has been made by the district administration at the shrine for the smooth darshan of the devotees.‘Bada Osha’ is one of the biggest ‘Osha’ (fasting) in Odisha, which is observed from the Sukla Trayodashi (13th day) in the holy Odia month of ‘Kartika’.“I have come to the shrine with my husband. I am really fortunate and blessed to have smooth darshan of Lord Dhabaleswar, thanks to the brilliant arrangement by the district administration. “‘Bada Osha’ is one of the biggest festivals in Odisha and to get the darshan of the Lord on the special occasionjust made my day,” said an elated devotee.
