Navratri: 01-10 October, 2016

Navratri is a major Hindu festival dedicated to the worship of Goddess Adi Shakti or Maa Durga. Navratri literally means nine nights. During these nine nights and ten days, nine forms of Shakti are worshiped and the tenth day is commonly celebrated as Vijayadashami or Dussehra.

Nine forms of Shakti that are worshipped during the Navratri are: First night– Shailputri, Second- Bhramcharini, Third – Chandraghanta, Fourth –Kushmanda, Fifth – Skandmata, Sixth –Kaatyayani, Seventh–Kaalratri, Eighth – Mahagauri and Ninth Navratri – Siddhiratri are worshipped. Tenth day is commonly celebrated as Vijayadashami.

Navratri is a very important festival in all parts of the country. In the western States of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat it is the principal festival of the year and during which the traditional dance of Gujarat Garba is widely performed.

This festival is celebrated with great zeal in North Indian States like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and performances of the Ramlila are the major attractions in these states. The Dussehra of Kullu in Himachal Pradesh is particularly famous in the North India.

The large procession of Goddess Chamundeshwari on a golden throne mounted on several well decorated elephants in Mysore, Karnataka is the main attraction of the Navratri festival in South India.

In the Eastern part of India particularly in Jharkhand, Assam, West Bengal and Odisha Hindus believe that it is lucky to start a new venture, project during Navratri or on Dussehra. So people and particularly the business community celebrate it as the New Year. In major Shakti Peethas like kali in Kolkata, Tara Tarini in Odisha, Kamakshya in Assam and, in other major Peethas the Navratri is celebrated for 16 days. Everywhere, the Sharad Navaratri culminates in the day of Vijayadashami or Dussehra. 

Ambubachi Mela at Kamakhya: 22-26 June, 2016

Ambubachi Mela is held every year during the monsoon season, which happens to fall in around the middle of the month of June-July at Kamakhya Temple, in the northeastern state of Assam. Noteworthy, this Shakti Pithas is one of the oldest of the 51 Shakti Pithas in India. 

The Ambubachi Mela is the most important festival of the Kamakhya Temple of Guwahati. The Ambubachi Mela is a ritual of Tantrik means. It is believed that the presiding goddess of the temple, Devi Kamakhya, the Mother Adi Shakti, goes through her annual cycle of menstruation during this time stretch.

 

During the Mela, the doors of the Kamakhya Temple remain closed for three days. It is believed that the Mother Earth becomes unclean for three days. During this time any kind of farming work is not taken on. Daily worships and other religious performances are also stopped during the Ambubachi Mela in Assam. After the completion of three days, the doors of the Kamakhya Temple are reopened. But the doors of the temple are reopened only after Devi Kamakhya is bathed and the other rituals are executed. It is then believed that the Mother Earth has retrieved her purity. This is purely a ritual of the Tantrik cult. On the fourth day, the devotees of the Goddess are allowed to enter the temple for worshipping Devi Kamakhya.

Every year lakhs of pilgrims, Sannyasins, black clad Aghoras, the Khade-babas, the Baul or singing minstrels,  Tantriks, Sadhus and Sadhvis and common people from all corners of India, visit Kamakhya during the four day Ambubachi Puja.

Third Tuesday of Chaitra Yatra passed off peacefully at Tara Tarini Shakti Peetha

The Third Tuesday of Chaitra month, considered the holiest in the annual calendar of the Tara Tarini Shakti Peetha began with the chanting of Vedic Mantras on the midnight of Monday. On the occasion lakhs of devotees had gathered at the hill shrine from Monday afternoon itself. As per the established traditions the Mangala Arati started at around 12.10 am in the morning and after the completion of Abakasha, Snana, Mailama Lagi, Sringara, Chandana Lagi, Panchamruta Bhoga, Bala Bhoga and Khichidi Bhoga the morning Arati of Adi Shakti was completed in 3.20 am at the Sanctum of the Shrine. Following it the Bagala Mukhi Besha Darshana for the Devotees started at around 3.30 am in the morning.

As per Hindu Purana and Tantra Shastra this is one of the 04 major Shakti Peethas in India where the twin goddesses Tara and Tarini are worshipped as the Breast Shrine of Devi Sati and the manifestation of Adi Shakti.

This famous Shakti/Tantra Peetha is located on the bank of pious river Rushikulya which is near Berhampur city in Ganjam district of Odisha.

The goddesses Tara and Tarini are regarded as the presiding deity (Ista-Devi) in majority of households in Odisha and in many parts of India.

Around Four lakhs of devotees visited the Tara Tarini Shakti Peetha on the occasion.

Mundan ceremony of over 10,000 babies (usually performed during the first year of a child’s life) is done to get the blessings of the Adi Shakti.

Devotees waited in long queues and dared extreme heat to offer prayers at the Shakti Peetha on the hill-top and participate in the Chaitra Mela, one of the biggest and longest religious fairs in the country.

On this occasion, more than 15,000 families and groups were seen cooking in the surrounding areas of the shrine and had a day of picnic at the Shrine. This is a unique and thousands of years old tradition at Tara Tarini Shakti Peetha.

Ganjam District administration and District police made elaborate arrangements for the visitors. As per the believe devotees climbed 999 holy steps to reach the hill temple. The rope-way which is being operated by TTDB and Ushabreco Pvt. Ltd. also carried thousands of devotees to the hill temple. The TTDB also operated buses to carry around 10,000 devotees to the hill top.

The Temple authorities distributed Pana, Buttermilk and Halwa Prasad to all the devotees during the entire day.

Justic Basudev Panigrahi of Odisha High Court, Member of Parliament, Aska Shri Ladu Kishor Swain, MLA Tirtol, Shri R Mallick, Odisha Southern Division IG Shri Amitabh Thakur, many other senior central and state government officials, Sub Collector, Tahasildar, officials of district administration, Secretary TTDB Shri Pramod Panda, Temple Executive Officer, office bearers of TTDB and Temple Management were also present on the occasion.

Special arrangements have been made for the convenience of the visitors. The TTDB, TATA, Gopalpur PORT Authority and other organizations set up Tents on the way and in and around the hilltop so that visitors can take rest and visit the Shrine without any difficulty.

Temporary health camps and drinking water points were also put up. The volunteers of the TTDB, NGOs and voluntary organizations and local residents actively helped the devotees who came from various neighboring states like Andhra Pradsh, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal and from many parts of the country.

Thousands of volunteers and hundreds of Policemen were deployed to control the huge rush, therefore the Third Tuesday of Chaitra Yatra which saw a huge rush passed off peacefully.

Thanks & Regards,

Ram Prasad Tripathy

PRO, Tara Tarini Development Board

Berhampur, Odisha

Over 3 lakh devotees throng to Tara Tarini Shakti Peetha on Second Tuesday of Chaitra

More than three lakhs of devotees thronged to Tara Tarini Shakti Peetha on the second Tuesday of Chaitra near Berhampur city in Ganjam district of Odisha.

This is one of the major Shakti Peethas in India where the twin goddesses Tara and Tarini are worshipped as the Breast Shrine of Devi Sati and the manifestation of Adi Shakti. This famous Shakti/Tantra Peetha is located on the bank of pious river Rushikulya.

The goddesses Tara and Tarini are regarded as the presiding deity (Ista-Devi) in ever part of the state of Odisha and in many parts of India.

On the occasion of Second Tuesday lakhs of devotees had started gathering at the hill shrine from Monday afternoon itself. As per the established traditions the Mangala Arati started at 12.30 am in the sanctum of the temple and after the completion of Abakasha, Snana, Sringara, Chandana lagi and Panchamruta Bhoga of Devi Tara Tarini the morning Arati was completed in 3.20 am. Following it the Darshana started for everybody after 3.30 am in the morning.

Joint Secretary of Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Government of India Shri Satyabrata Sahu, Commandant of Army Air Defence College, Golabandha, many other senior central and state government officials, officials of district administration, Secretary TTDB Shri Pramod Panda, Temple Executive Officer, office bearers of TTDB and Temple Management were also present on the occasion.

Mundan ceremony of more than 10,000 babies (usually performed during the first year of a child’s life) is done to get the blessings of the Adi Shakti.

Ganjam District administration and District police made elaborate arrangements for the visitors. As per the believe devotees climbed 999 holy steps to reach the hill temple. The rope-way which is being operated by TTDB and ushabreco also carried thousands of devotees to the hill temple. The TTDB also operated buses to carry devotees to the hill top.

Special arrangements have been made for the convenience of the visitors. Tents have been set up on the way to the hilltop so that visitors can take rest. Temporary health camps and drinking water points are also put up. The volunteers of the TTDB, NGOs and voluntary organizations and local residents actively helped the devotees who came from various parts of the country.

- Berhampur, April 05, 2016

-http://www.orissabarta.com/index.php?option=com_content...

-http://orissadiary.com/CurrentNews.asp?id=66212 

Chaitra Mela begins at Tara Tarini Temple

Thousands of people from far-off places in the state and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh throng the Tara Tarini temple with their babies on the occasion of Chaitra Mela, which started on March 30, 2016.

The temple is one of the famous Shakti shrines in the state, located on the banks of the Rushikulya, about 35 km from Berhampur city in the Ganjam district.

"Shaving the heads of babies and offering their hair is a tradition in Ganjam and its adjoining districts. A company from Andhra Pradesh collects the hair and has offered around Rs 2.25 lakh this time. Last year, the same company had offered Rs 2.6 lakh," temple sources said.

Braving the scorching sun, thousands climb 999 steps to reach the 17th century temple, located about 709 ft above the sea level to tonsure their babies and offer the hair to the goddess every Tuesday of the month.

"About 700 police personnel, including eight platoons of police forces, three additional SPs (Ganjam), one DSP, ten inspector rank officers were camping on the temple premises to oversee traffic management and law and order," said SP (Ganjam) Ashish Singh. He added that no untoward incident has been reported in the temple yet.

-March 30, 2016