Mahalaya brings Puja ambience across Odisha

ONI Bureau:   Thousands of devotees on Monday thronged Sri Jagannath temple in Puri to offer ‘tarpan’ (offering) and pind-daan to their forefathers on the occasion of Mahalaya.

Similarly, heavy footfalls were also witnessed at Bindu sagar in Lingaraj temple, Bhubaneswar for the ritual. The offering of respect to the ancestors is also being performed at homes.

Mahalaya is an auspicious occasion observed seven days before the Durga Puja, an invitation to the mother Goddess to the earth. Mahalaya also marks as the beginning of Devi-Paksha and the end of the Pitri-Paksha.

In Western Odisha, devotees were seen waiting to witness the “Dhavalamukhi Vesa” of goddess Samaleswari on the auspicious occasion of Mahalaya.