Odisha celebrates Ram Navami festival with religious fervour

Thousands of devotees thronged various temples across Odisha on Thursday on the auspicious occasion of Ram Navami, the birth anniversary of Lord Ram. 

A large number of devotees gathered at different shrines in villages and cities in the State to offer their prayers to Lord Rama. Sri Ram temple in Bhubaneswar also witnessed huge rush of devotees on the occasion.

Special rituals will be performed at Srimandir in Puri during the occasion of holy Ram Navami today. The pilgrim town is all set to celebrate Sahi Jata, a unique tradition linked to Jagannath culture. All preparations for the Sahi Jata have been put in place and the artistes are fully ready with rehearsals at ‘Akhadas’.

Bhadrak, Balasore and Rourkela also wore festive looks as pendals have been erected at different places on the occasion.

In Bhadrak, ‘Agyana Malas’ have been brought from Akhandalamani temple, Maa Bhadrakali temple and Maa Biraja temple in Jajpur to Gandhipadia in Bhadrak where a religious ‘Jagyan’ will be performed today. Preparations are in the final stage for the famous ‘Nagara Sankirtana’ to be taken in Bhadrak at 3 pm today. 

Elaborate security arrangement has been made to maintain law and order during the huge procession. As many as seven drone cameras will be deployed to keep a vigil on any kind of possible untoward incidents during the procession. Similarly, more than 76 CCTV cameras have been installed at various places to keep a tab on the event.

Meanwhile, eminent sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik has paid his devotion to Lord Rama by creating a magnificent sand art at Puri sea beach on the holy occasion of Ram Navami. He has also created a miniature of Ayodhya’s Ram temple.