Odisha and festivals

 Odisha and festivals

Odisha is the eighth largest state by area and seventh by population. Neighboring states have West Bengal And Jharkhand in the north Chhattisgarh to the West and Andhra Pradesh to the South. This state has 485 kilometers of coastline to the Bay of Bengal and is also known Utkala region. The language here is Odiya. The Kingdom of Kalinga majorly known by king Ashok of the Mauryan empire also comes into the boundaries of modern-day Odisha along with Bihar. The modern-day boundary of Odisha was named by the British government forming a state as Orissa which had a population of Odiya-speaking people from Bihar and Orissa. That date is also celebrated as Utkal Divas which comes out to be the first of April. The reason is the present Orissa attained a name. Cuttack was the capital then and now it's Bhubaneshwar.

Ashoka of the Mauryan dynasty conquered Kalinga in the bloody Kalinga War in 261 BC. According to his writings, 100,000 people were killed and 150,000 were captured. This had a psychological effect on Ashoka and he started following Buddhism and turned into a pacifist.

The most famous town has to be Puri For the reason that Puri Jagannath Dham is situated here. And the most auspicious festival is known as Rath yatra. The event is for 42 days and the idols of God are removed from the temple and then they are taken to the banks given a bath, decorated, and then return to the temple. This event takes a lot of planning as thousands of worshippers from around the world come to visit this auspicious event every year.

So In Odisha, you need to have some money and some friends. You can go to the beach and enjoy the serenity. The majority is covered in vegetation and a beautiful coastline. The people are friendly and welcoming. As stated before that the most auspicious month of the Chandan yatra or the Rath yatra. This celebration gives a lot of tourists and devotees to the entire Odisha. Thus making it a very nice destination spot. Let me explain. As we have seen that the whole world is stormed by the spiritual front off there's nothing there Sanatan Dharma. Like we the native of this land are also getting to know things that we never knew about our past or our ancestors obviously because of British rule and their installed government for over 70 years. And even after that that the new government is struggling and who knows for how long they are gonna struggle but at least we are connecting to our roots. 

So the spiritual part has played an important role in uplifting India since the time. Foreign scholars used to visit here and are still visiting here. But now not just scholars, the ones feeling connected to God Jagganath are bound to visit Odisha. Thus making Odisha a world famous tourist spot in terms of Devotion.

The festival is celebrated here with great joy and devotion. As Odisha is on the coastline is under the threat of flood or tsunami. It has experienced massive floods in the past. The government has taken steps to prevent the loss of lives and property by keeping track of the weather and climate. Warnings are issued beforehand in case some massive typhoons are wandering around the world. As we have seen in 2020. 

Makar Sankranti is celebrated with great passion and joy. Netaji Shubhash Chandra Bose Jayanti is also celebrated because they have a great deal of affection towards Netaji. Even though they were Bengali, people still consider them their own just because he was a true nationalist and stood against the British Empire to shake them from their core. He is considered the true hero of our freedom because their army made a great impact on the British crown and thus they were forced to leave and the previous protest was no good. The due credit is never given because our history books are filled with lies instead of the truth. 

Vasant Panchami fills the kid with joy because they have the chance to fly kites for the whole day. Maha Shivratri is considered auspicious and you can see all the shiv mandirs flooded with the devotees.

It is important to see that the culture of Odisha around revolves around their native land and they are very emotional with their values. Their fun and easy-going attitude can transform in a matter of seconds into a warrior. They strive to gain knowledge and apply it in their life. The heartwarming and welcoming nature of the locals will inspire you to inculcate this in yourself. You might feel that they are very loud but that is the essence of their being.

The hardworking people respect their culture a lot. This is a glance at their life. In their holidays they tend to relax and by relax, it does not mean that they sleep the whole day but they like to cook for themselves and create a moment of harmony. You will see in people that they have a sense of pride for which they work very hard and do not flex. It is our cultural heritage and our history that can be seen in every ounce of Odisha and we have to respect that.

By-

Akhilesh Semwal