File picture of a bali yatra ritual being performed in Sonepur

Sonepur, Oct. 1: The district administration will observe bali yatra that begins from Friday night on the occasion of Mahalaya. The 15-day festival ends on October 18 on the full moon day.

The sacrifice festival of Sonepur is different from other such festivals during the Dussehra. Festivals such as patkhanda yatra at Jarasingha near Balangir and chhatar yatra at Bhawanipatna in Kalahandi are better known for the large-scale animal sacrifice to appease the deity on the Bijaya Dasami day. But, Sonepur’s bali yatra is best known for the practice of Patanjali’s astanga yoga during the festival. While in other places sacrifice meant animal sacrifice, in the Sonepur festival, it meant sacrifice of evil emotions of one’s mind such as anger, ego, pride and so on.

Bali yatra, which centres on the Asta Chandi temples of the town, is a blend of music, literature, dance, yantra, mantra, tantra and yoga. The music is special with the vibrant solah bharni percussion on dholak, while the vocal is based on Raag Maleshree, which local people play.

Purandar Barik, who has been playing dholak on bali yatra for more than 30 years, said the music he played was of a special kind. “It is a blend of folk and classical music with a tantric overtone. It takes the barua (on whom the deity is said be manifested) from his ordinary consciousness to a state of contemplation and gradually to the state of samadhi. The barua then performs dances, according to music that varies from time to time and place to place,” Barik said.

Rituals are performed in various temples such as Sureswari, Samaleswari, Bhubaneswari, Khambeswari across the town on different days.

“On different days, times and places, the festival is known by different names such as nisha bali, navami bali, dangua bali, gaen bali and so on. But, what attracts everybody is the maha bali on the Vijaya Dasami day,” said researcher Benudhar Pradhan. Historian Sudam Naik said the bali yatra of Sonepur is purely based on tantra. “The festival here has a history of about 1,200 years. Lakshmikara, who was the daughter of King Indrabhuti practised the tantric practice, sahajayana, here and she initiated the festival,” said Naik, who has authored several books on Sonepur history.

Earlier, a few animals used to be scarified during the festival as a part of the puja ritual. But, the practice was completely stopped following a movement against animal sacrifice during the festival. In 1998, the then collector of Sonepur, Bisnupada Sethi, stopped the festival as some orthodox people demanded the practice of animal sacrifice to continue.