One of the biggest fairs in Odisha, Bali Yatra is held at Gadagadia Ghat of the Mahanadi river in Cuttack city. Lakhs of visitors visit this historic ten-day-long extravaganza.
The fair is called historic because it has a connection with our rich maritime history. The festival begins on the auspicious Kartika Purnima day.
Why on Kartik Purnima day?
In ancient times, the traders of Odisha (Sadhaba Puas) used to voyage on boats to foreign lands like Java, Sumatra and Bali and return with wealth. And the day they would start their voyage is the day of Kartika Purnima. The Kartika Purnima day was preferred because the winds were favourable for voyages in boats, locally known as ‘boita’.
In memory of the glorious maritime tradition, people across Odisha float miniature boats in water bodies on Kartika Purnima day. And the Bali Yatra at Gadagadia Ghat kick starts on this auspicious day.
The literal meaning of Bali Yatra is Voyage to Bali. The festival gets its name Bali Yatra because in those days the Sadhaba Puas used to go to several foreign lands including Bali, an island in Indonesia.
According to another theory, Sri Chaitanya, the great Vaishnavite Bengali poet, landed in Cuttack after crossing the sand bed of the Mahanadi river on the auspicious day of Kartika Purnima. His journey is called Bali Yatra.
Lakhs of visitors from inside and outside the state congregate at the famous festival where a smorgasbord of things are bought and sold. Starting from home-need articles to decorative items are sold here. But the food courts and joy rides are the main attractions of the festival.
The visitors relish a wide variety of mouth-watering veg and non-veg food items here. Similarly, visitors, particularly the young ones, make their visit to the fair memorable by enjoying different joy rides including merry-go-round rides, break dance rides and ferry wheels. For the entertainment of visitors, there are stages where different types of cultural activities are also organised.