On the auspicious occasion of Samba Dasami (the 10th day of the Shukla Paksha of Pausa month of Odia almanac), age old tradition of Sun God’s car festival was celebrated at Konark in Puri.
Konark is famous for Sun Temple, dedicated to Hindu Sun God. Here car festival is celebrated on Samba dasami. The Chariot is pulled from Ananta Abadhuta mutt to Chandrabhaga.
Today, for the Mahayajna, the idol of Sun God was first consecrated following some special rituals. Then ‘Kakara’, 108 numbers of ‘Bara’ and ‘Poda Pitha’ were offered to the god on the chariot. The chariot pulling started after the mahanta of the mutt completed the ‘chhera panhara’ ritual.
There is a legend associated with Samba Dasami and Chandrabhaga. In Dwapar yuga, Lord Krishna cursed his son Samba to suffer from leprosy. When pleaded, Lord Krishna asked him to worship Surya. After 12 years of severe penance on the bank of Chandrabhaga river, he could please Surya and recovered. During this period, he also recovered an idol of the Sun God from the river.
On this auspicious day, devotees thronged Chandrabhaga and worshipped the Sun God with offering Him Kakara and Poda Pitha to get the blessings for the family members to live disease-free lives.
Mahanta Maharaj said, “In Dwapar Yuga, Lord Krishna’s son Samba came here to cure from leprosy. He recovered the idol from the Chandrabhaga river and performed pujas by brahmins from an island to get rid of leprosy.”
(Reported by Sanjay Pati from Konark, OTV)