Odisha Celebrates ‘Rasagola Dibasa’ Today, Know The Story Behind It

Bhubaneswar: Odisha celebrates the 8th ‘Rasagola Dibasa’ today. A dedicated day for Rasagola began back in 2015. This day is celebrated across the State with great enthusiasm.

Rasagola Dibasa is celebrated after the nine-day-long annual sojourn to the Gundicha temple. Lord Jagannath returned home on the Bahuda Yatra day. The holy deities will enter into Srimandir today, known as Niladri Bije.

Niladri Bije is the ritual of Lord Jagannath’s return with his siblings from the chariots to the Srimandir in ‘Goti Pahandi’. It is the procession of the holy deities from the chariots to Ratna Singhasana (sanctum).

Before entering the main temple, a traditional act between the servitors of Lord Jagannath and Devi Lakshmi takes place at the main gate, known as Jaya Vijaya Door, of the temple.

It is popularly believed that Devi Lakshmi, wife of Lord Jagannath, gets angry as she was left in the Srimandir and was not a part of the Rath Yatra to the Gundicha temple. She only allows Lord Balabhadra, Goddess Subhadra, and Lord Sudarshana into the temple and closes the temple gate for Lord Jagannath.

Hence, in order to convince Devi Lakshmi, Lord Jagannath offers rasagolla (a sweet dish made of curd cheese) and requests her to forgive him. Following this, Lord Jagannath is made to sit beside Devi Lakshmi where a ritual of reunion is rehearsed and finally Lord Jagannath ascends the Ratna Singhasana.

The world-famous Rath Yatra festival of the holy trinity will come to an end with the Niladri Bije ritual today.

It is pertinent to mention that International Sand Artist Sudarshan Patnaik created an art piece at Puri sea beach on this occasion. He posted the same on his official Twitter handle and wrote “On the pious occasion of Niladri Bije, Mahaprabhu Jagannath while returning to Ratna Singhasana, offers Rasagola to Maha Lakshmi. My sand art at Puri beach in Odisha for this unique ritual.”

Jai Jagannath….🙏
On the pious occasion of #NiladriBije, Mahaprabhu Jagannath, while returning to Ratna Singhasana, offers Rasagola to #MahaLakshmi. My sandart at Puri beach in Odisha for this unique ritual . #RasagolaDibasa pic.twitter.com/T8IkgvcMqm

— Sudarsan Pattnaik (@sudarsansand) July 12, 2022