By Our Correspondent
BOSTON/BHUBANESWAR: Massachusetts State of USA hosted Car Festival, Return Journey, gold ornamentation and Niladri Bije ceremonies of Lord Jagannath with much fanfare and spiritual fervour. The Grand Celebration was organised by Odia Communities based in New England in active association with the New England Shirdi Sai Parivaar (NESSP). Befitting to the occasion the New England’s Siridi Sai Temple situated at 99, Shirdi Way in Groton of Greater Boston, where the Trinity are presently stationed was aesthetically decorated and was wearing a ethnic and elegant look.
To mark the commencement of the Festival special religious rituals were performed by the priest Pavan Acharya in front of the Four Deities. Around 500 Odia and non – Odia inhabitants from Massachusetts and nearby states of USA like Rhodes Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Maine congregated at Groton to take part in the holy fair. In afternoon the four Idols were taken in a grand procession to the colourfully decked up chariot having cladded with pipli applique works parked in front of the Sai temple. American carpenter built this chariot with the guidance of temple trustee Niranjan Senapati. Devotees present conducted the traditional sweeping of chariot namely Chherra Pahanra. Then the long awaited pulling of chariot started.
The entire atmosphere got reverberated with the lyrical sounds of Bhajan, Kirtan, chanting of hymns, raising of slogans like Hari Bol, Jai Jagannath and playing of musical instruments like Ghanta, Kartala, Cymbals Jhanja and Mrudanga and recital of Odissi Dance. The chariot was pulled around the boundary of Sai temple till 2 km and then taken back to the premises of the temple. The moving sight of Lord of the Universe sitting atop the Royal chariot in His majestic style during the sojourn on the street of Massachusetts was momentous, mesmerising and memorable. After reached back at the temple the idols were escorted to the Gem Studded Altar by the servitors. Then all the Four Gods and Goddess were decorated with golden attire like being done in main temple at Puri. After that Arati was performed before the sanctum sanctorum.
Massachusetts witnessed a spectacular cultural extravaganza as part of the Mega Event. During the gold ornamentaion time of Idols Shyama Gundala, Sunita Gundala, Sudhira Mishra, Dillip Pradhan and Rageswari Pradhan presented soul soothing bhajans. The special attraction of the Festival was the presentaion of scintillating Odissi Dance performances by the disciples of noted Odissi Gurus Jayasri Kar and Mouli Pal. The talented artists who showcased their extraordinary creative genius by presenting devotional music and classical dances during the ceremony include Shyamala Bangalore, Anusha Mukunda, Shruthi Nanjagud, Meera patil, Jeyanthi Ghatraju, Nithila Krishna Kumar, Ruta Shinde and Shruthi Lakshmi Narayan. The cultural session was neatly presented and well coordinated by Bishwa Bhusan Sahoo and Rashmi Ranjan Rath.
The highlight of the Festival was the preparation of delicious Fifty Six Bhog on the pattern of Anand Bazar at Puri by temple volunteers under the direction of Sujata Dhal. The Mahaprasad was distributed among the devotees during the Rath Yatra. This year’s annual chariot Festival became a massive success due to the strenuous efforts put up by main organisers like Mahender Singh, Neelkanth Mishra, Sandeep Koushik, Surya Kodukula, Chenna Keshab, Niranjan Senapati, Jayasri Patel, Kumar Patula, Rajesh Singh, Niranjan Senapati, Pradeep Dhal, Bishwa Bhusan Sahoo, Arun Mohanty, Nishikanta Bhadra, Dillip Behera, Sujata Dhal, Nishikanta Sahoo, Vijay Bala, Amal Dutta and Nagendra Natti.
