Wedding ritual of deities Shiva and Parvati being performed and (right) a baraat procession of Lord Shiva moves towards the house of goddess Parvati in Sambalpur. Telegraph pictures

Sambalpur/Bhubaneswar, June 7: Thousands of devotees gathered in Sambalpur to witness the divine wedding between Lord Shiva and goddess Parvati which was solemnised on Monday night on the auspicious occasion of Sital Sasthi. The festival was celebrated with pomp and grandeur.

Following mythological texts, Sital Sasthi is observed as the day of marriage of the divine couple wherein all the rites followed during an Oriya marriage are observed. A couple perform the role of parents of goddess Parvati and offer the hand of their daughter to Lord Shiva.

The groom, Balibandha’s Somnath Baba (a form of Lord Shiva), arrived at enacting ‘father-in-law’ Byomakesh Panda’s house in a late-night traditional Oriya barajatri procession (groom’s procession) where his divine bride was waiting for him.

Lord Hanuman and Narasimha lead the procession, which was a glittering parade of deities, their temple servitors and local residents with flashing fireworks and traditional music of gong, conch and trumpets.

The most interesting part of the marriage was the blend of human and divine rituals. While the occasion saw an assembly of various deities of the city, the in-laws of Lord Shiva were seen as immersed in organising and carrying out the ceremony as other parents would be at their daughter’s wedding.

Just like any other parent, they lavishly decked the groom’s party with gift articles like gold ornaments, furniture and electronic items and send it with their daughter.

People in and around Sambalpur were elated on the occasion, justifying the region’s popularity for observing the festival grandly. All the Shiva temples in the city including famous temples such as Brahmapura temple, Lokenath baba temple and Jageswar baba temple also conducted the divine marriage ceremony.

During the thala utha, a ritual that is performed long before the wedding day, the names of the couples to perform the role of the parents of goddess Parvati were declared.

This year, Jayanarayan Sarangi and Rita Sarangi performed the role of in-laws of Balunkeswar baba of Nanadpara; Motilal Das and Chandraprabha played the role of in-laws of Lokenath baba of Jharuapara; and Bhupen Das and wife Nina were in-laws of Jageswar baba of Modipara in Sambalpur.

After the marriage on Monday, the newly weds took a journey to the town on Tuesday evening, a ritual called Nagar Parikrama. Thousands of devotees gathered on the streets to witness the event.

“The festival was started by the royal Chouhan dynasty in 1678 in Sambalpur at the Someswar temple of Balibandha,” said Deepak Panda, an elderly resident of Sambalpur.

Other Saivite destinations of the state also observed the festival with splendour.

Bhubaneswar, home to hundreds of Shiva temples, also celebrated the auspicious occasion.

Lord Lingaraj, the groom, reached Kedar Gouri temple in an impressive procession on Monday night, accompanied by deities Ananta Basudev and Kapil Nath and thousands of devotees with fireworks, music and dance. Here the marriage was solemnised with goddess Parvati. The couple and their followers went around the Old Town area on Tuesday night.

“We had organised cultural programmes on the occasion. This is the most important festival for residents of the Old Town area,” said Rashmi Mohapatra, a member of the Sital Sasthi Sanskrutika Parishad.

“The procession of the newly wed divine couple will continue all night and the deities will enter the Lingaraj temple in the wee hours of Wednesday,” she said.