Bada Osha: Significance, Legends, and How to Worship Lord Dhabaleshwar, watch

Bada Osha is a traditional festival celebrated in Odisha, dedicated to Lord Mahadev. It is observed on the Chaturdashi Tithi (14^th day) of the Shukla Pakshya (bright fortnight) in the holy month of Kartik.

How to worship Lord Dhabaleshwar

On this day, special worship is organized at the Dhabaleswar Temple located in the Athagarh area of Cuttack district in Odisha. On this day, Lord Dhabaleshwara is adorned with the Badasinghara Besha.

During the worship, Lord Mahadev is offered special worship. At dawn, Lord Dhabaleswar is given a holy bath with 108 pots of water, followed by a series of rituals including Mangala Alati and Mailama. Traditional offerings such as tarana, gaja pitha, and manda bhoga are offered to the deity. After worship, devotees partake in these sacred offerings, known as pitha or cake.

Legend of Indra

According to legend, Indra observed the Bada Osha fast, worshiping Dhabaleswar, and took a holy dip on the full moon day of Kartika, which freed him from Brahma’s curse.

King Kratu, queen Harapriya and Bada Osha

According to another legend, there was a king named Kratu in Utkal. He once went to the forest for hunting. While wandering aimlessly in the forest, he came across a dilapidated Shiva temple. There, the princess of Nagpur, Harapriya, was worshipping God wishing to marry him (Kratu).

The two met near the temple and got married. After the marriage, the king lived in luxury and did not took care of the affairs of the kingdom. As a result, he had to lose the kingdom after being defeated by external enemies. And hence, he then had to spend his life in sorrow with the queen in the forest in exile.

A devotee of Lord Shiva, a monk, lived in that forest. Once he was taking some Ketaki flowers to worship Lord Shiva. The king forcibly took away those flowers from him and presented them to his queen.

Accordingly, Lord Shiva became angry and the king was afflicted with leprosy due to the monk’s curse. Now, his sorrow continued to grow while the queen had to spend her time nursing the king.

King recovers with blessings of Lord Dhabaleshwar

The queen was a devotee of God. Once, she met a monk and asked him about the cure for the king. The monk told her that the king has been afflicted with leprosy due to the curse of a Lord Shiva devotee.

On the advice of the monk, the queen observed Bada Osha fast with sincerity for Lord Dhabaleshwara, who was being worshipped in the Mahanadi. Lord Shiva was pleased and blessed the queen and Kratu recovered from leprosy. The couple was also blessed with a son.

Since then, Bada Osha has been observed with great devotion by those seeking relief from suffering and blessings for their loved ones.

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