Rows of poles, or kanwars, used to carry holy water to Shaivite destinations, lined up by devotees near the Mukteswar temple in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 18: A serpentine queue of saffron t-shirt clad youths, were seen outside the major Shaivite destinations here.

These devotees, known as kanwariyas, walk from distant villages and towns to offer holy water to Lord Shiv and the trip is locally known as the Bolbum journey.

More and more youths from all walks of life are taking part in this ritual, which, they consider more of an adventure trip and less of a devotional ritual.

Deepak Kumar Das, a software engineer working in Chennai, recently visited the state with one of his friends from south India to take part in the Bolbum yatra.

“During my college days in Bhubaneswar I had once taken part in a Bolbum yatra with friends. It’s cool to be a part of this activity and I am looking forward to post my photos on Facebook and other social media so my friends of other states get to know of the adventures,” said Das.

Like Das, many youths, well-educated and highly qualified people are seen taking this trip.

The devotees from within the state and outside visit the Puri Loknath temple, Mukteshwar, Kedar Gouri and Brahmeswar temple in Bhubaneswar during the Shravan month for the ritual. One of the most visited temples is the Lingaraj temple.

During the four Mondays of the Shravana month, devotees throng the temple in thousands.

The queue begins right from Sunday evening till the temple is opened at 5am the next morning.

The yatris carry the water in containers hung on a pole and walk barefoot for several kilometers.

Although many feel it as a way to seek Lord Shiv’s blessings, youths of this generation feel that it’s a kind of religious adventure.

“When one walks chanting holy slogans for Lord Shiv, he feels elated and the pain of covering the distance does not matter to him,” said Rupak Panda, a youth who had been participating in this yatra for the past four years.

His friend Pitambar Sethy, who went on Bolbum for the first time, said he did it because he thought it would be interesting.

“I just wanted to experience it and it’s painful to cover more than 40 kilometers barefooted taking little rest in between. I saw many people taking the help of ganja and other drugs to boost their spirit to cover such distances,” said Sethy who brought water from Mahanadi to pour it on the Shiv lingam at Lingaraj temple.

Not only men take part in this religious convention, women also seen taking part in the activity.

“I had never taken part in any such activity earlier. The whole idea of a road trip by feet attracted me. But I had to take two days leave from work for healing my feet that had blisters,” said Nilima Dhal, an engineering graduate.

The kanwariya walk, mostly a north India tradition, has become popular ever since Odia devotees followed it in the 1990s, said Abani Pattnaik, an administrator of Lingaraj Temple.

“It began in 1995 when many devotees from Cuttack and nearby cities, as a symbol of their devotion and to take their requests to Lord Shiv, carried water from the Gadagadia Ghat and brought it to Lingaraj temple to pour on the Shiva linga here. Now, it has become a part of the Shravan month rituals for people from all over the State. The number of devotees is increasing every year,” he said.