Bhubaneswar: The holy festival of ‘Makar Sankranti’ is being celebrated across Odisha with much revelry and camaraderie today. Early morning dips marked the festival with devotees flooding water bodies located near temples and offering special prayers to the Sun God.
Religious fervour filled the air in all parts of the state on this occasion with places of religious importance like Sri Jagannath Temple in Puri, Sun Temple in Konark and Lord Lingaraj Temple in the state capital Bhubaneswar witnessing a massive increase in visitor numbers.
At Srimandir in Puri, special rituals like Uttaraya Jatra and Uttarayan Vandapana are held on this day. Similarly, the Holy Trinity dons the Makar Chaurashi Besha. Makar Chaula, a special kind of sweet dish prepared with newly harvested rice, Jaggery, grated coconut, banana, cheese, khua, various fruits and milk is taken around the temple in a procession on this occasion, which is called Makar Bedha.
Similarly, people took a dip at Chandrabhaga beach in Konark and visited Sun Temple at Konark to start their day today. A massive crowd of devotees virtually competing with each other at the beach was witnessed starting from the early morning at this place of tourist importance.
In Bhubaneswar, people made beeline before Lord Lingaraj Temple to perform darshan and offer prayer this morning. Police officials made special security arrangements to allow devotees’ hassle free entry into the temple.
On this occasion Hindus worship Sun God, who enter into the zodiacal sign of Makara (Capricorn) on its celestial path and moves towards South which is called ‘Uttarayan’. From this festival which is based on solar calendar, the days become longer and warmer and the chill winter declines.
Ms Kalinga