: The week-long 88th Chaiti Festival of Maa Tarini at Ghatagaon kicked off on Tuesday with religious fervour and gaiety. Thousands of devotees from various parts of the State and outside thronged the shrine to witness the colourful festival. Locally called as Chaiti Parba, it is the main festival of the goddess.
 
According to the sources, early in the morning, on the first day of the festival, the priests and servitors performed various rituals like Marjana, Mangal Alati and Sodasa Upachar niti. Later, the temple was opened for the devotees to witness the goddess.
 
The deity was attired with gold ornaments for the Sunan Besa. Devotees in large numbers offered puja and witnessed the Goddess in Suna Besa (gold attire) as it is believed that Maa Tarini showers her blessings on devotees during darshan in the Suna Besa, said Rajendra Pattanayak, a former trustee of the temple.
 
The administration has put up barricades for smooth movement of devotees inside the temple. Police personnel have been deployed to maintain peace and smooth and hassle-free ‘darshan’ of the goddess inside the shrine. Besides, steps have been taken for smooth parking of vehicles and flow of traffic.
 
Though the climate has become cool in the past two days due to rain and cloudy days, the administration has taken special measures to avoid sunstroke cases by arranging sufficient drinking water. Cultural programmes like Palla, Kirtan, devotional song and dance and Bhajan will be performed.
 
“To avoid heat, free distribution of ‘Pana’ (a kind of serbat) will take place. The temple premises has been covered with tarpaulin for the devotees for protection from exposure to sun. Special barricade has been put up for the devotees for smooth darshan of the deity,” said Sub Collector Keonjhar Trilochan Mohanty. The Chaiti festival will end on the day of the Pana Sankranti.