KARTIKA PURNIMA AND BALIYATRA The Kartika Purnima celebration in Orissa has a great historic significance. The day is celebrated as Voita Vandana Divasa or the worshipping day of the Voita or flotilla. This tradition of Voita Vandana is very ancient and it bears the memory of Orissa’s glorious maritime activities during the past. Orissa or ancient days Kalinga has a long maritime history and tradition. Its geographical location on the long sea shore having good depth for the provision of ports had helped the people of ancient Orissa to have an easy access to the sea. The Kalingan merchants called Sadhavas exploited this opportunity by carrying over seas trade with the countries situated on the other side of the seas, such as Burma, Thailand, Ceylon, Java, Barneo and Bali islands. This brought them huge commercial profits and made Kalinga rich and prosperous. The people of Kalinga were by nature brave and adventurous. Ancient Sanskrit literatures of India describe the Kalingans as brave (Kalinga Sahasika). So the courageous spirit of the Kalinga people led them to sail to over seas countries for commercial benefits as well as colonial and cultural expansion. This glorious tradition connected with maritime activities of ancient Orissa is intimately linked with some of her present day religious practices and festivals. Although Orissa has lost its maritime trading activities, yet the Oriyas today remember their ancient tradition by observing Voita Vandana on the day of the Kartika Purnima. This is a day of great festivity for them. In the early morning all the members of the family including children float a miniature boat made of the bark of the plantain trees or of thermocool with lamps burning inside them after taking bath in the river or tank. Before floating, the miniature boats are dually worshipped. Folklore of Orissa reveals that, in this holy day of Kartika Purnima, the Sadhavas of Orissa used to start sailing on the seas with their Voitas every year. It is because of the fact that the velocity of south-west monsoon subsides in the month of Kartika corresponding to the month of October and November. Further, during this time northern wind begins to blow which helps the boats to sail smoothly towards their destinations. Apart from that, the month of Kartika is considered by every Oriya as a holy month and the Kartika Purnima as the most auspicious day. So the merchants of Orissa could not have chosen a better occasion for the sea voyage than this holy day. The folklore of the land narrating Khudurikuni Osha and Tapoi tales also depict about maritime tradition of Orissa. On this day of Kartika Purnima a grand fair is organized in Cuttack on the bank of the river Mahanadi. This fair is famous as Baliyatra and is observed for seven days with lakhs of people congregating daily. The fair bears the memory of lost tradition of the glorious past when Sadhavas were undertaking voyage to the Vali Island with their merchandise loaded boats from the bank of the river Mahanadi. Therefore, the fair with the name Baliyatra is still continuing in the memory of that glorious tradition. Not only in Cuttack, the festival of Voita Vandana and Baliyatra are held in different places of the coastal part of Orissa like Balasore, Paradeep, Tirtol, etc. having history and tradition of maritime activities. In these fairs of Baliyatra different articles of household use, luxury, handicrafts are available for display and sale along with different types of foods and drinks for the amusement and entertainment of the people. People come in large number from different parts of the state to the Valiyatra in Cuttack and enjoy the fair wholeheartedly. Sometimes it becomes a headache for the district administration to handle the crowd. Such is the popularity and importance of this historic Valiyatra.
Posted on: Sat, 16 Nov 2013 12:38:58 +0000
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