Week-long Gajalaxmi puja festivities start in K'pada

Kendrapada: After Durga Puja, the week-long Gajalaxmi Puja celebrations started in the district on Wednesday. The festive atmosphere was evident throughout the coastal district, with stunning decorations and dazzling illuminations.

In Kendrapada town, around 68 puja committee members meticulously designed, decorated, and illuminated the idols of Maa Gajalaxmi, the goddess of wealth, at various puja mandaps. Streets in areas like Badahat, Kakata, Santasahi, Ichapur, Tinimuhani, Madhial, and Balagandi have been lit up, adding to the festive spirit.

“In the mornings, devotees gather in large numbers at the puja venues. The cost of organising Gajalaxmi Puja has increased this year due to the high prices of raw materials required for construction of puja pandals. Pandal lighting decorators are charging Rs 10 to 20 lakhs,” said Harish Chandra Das, a puja committee member from Kakata in Kendrapada town.

Additional district magistrate (Kendrapada) Nilu Mohapatra said, “Efforts have been made to ensure uninterrupted power supply to puja mandaps at night.”

Debashis Dhal, additional superintendent of police, Kendrapada, said 30 platoons of police have been deployed at strategic points in the town and near all puja mandaps to ensure the safety of pandal visitors. “Police have set up temporary outposts at six locations,” added Dhar.

The week-long festival will conclude on Oct 22. The tradition of Gajalaxmi Puja in Kendrapada town, the state’s oldest municipality, was initiated by Radhashyam Narendra Srichandan, the then landlord of Kendrapada, in 1928.

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