2 days ago
Patiagada Gopinath Deb Temple becomes most happening place during Rath Yatra
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Bhubaneswar: Patiagada, a culturally-rich village in the city, uses Gopinath Deb Temple at Dolamandap Sahi as Gundicha Temple for the Rath Yatra. The sibling deities stay at this temple for nine days, and people celebrate the Rath Yatra by organising cultural evenings from Rath Yatra to Bahuda.
Folk and classical dances are performed near this temple during this period.
"We stage bhajan (Odia devotional songs), sankirtan, Gotipua dance, Odissi dance, Sambalpuri folk dance, chaiti ghoda dance, and giti natya from the day of Rath Yatra to a day before Bahuda," said Benudhar Rout, managing trustee, Sri Gundicha Ghar Gopinath Deb Mandir Trust. Rout said Rath Yatra in his village was stopped after 1932. Later, the villagers revived it in 2010.
Like earlier, the newly-constructed chariot rolls from Jagannath Temple to Gopinath Deb Temple in the village, he added.
He said this Gopinath Deb Temple was used as Gundicha Temple before 1932 too. "At that time, villagers were bringing teak from the Patia forest to construct chariots for the sibling deities. Now the forest is nowhere to be seen. I heard this from my father and grandfather. We are happy that we are continuing this rich tradition," he added.
Rout said Gopinath Deb Temple was built by the king of Patiagada. "We renovated it with the help of villagers. The renovation was completed in November 2014," he added. He said they always try to rope in folk dance, classical dance, and Odia bhajan performers to patronise Odia culture. "People enjoy the moment after the revival of Rath Yatra since 2010 in the village. Villagers even provide rice and other materials to make prasad for devotees on the day of Rath Yatra," he added.
Kishore Chandra Paikaray, a villager, said the Gopinath Deb Temple is an old temple like Jagannath Temple of Patiagada. "While renovating, we have not changed any structure of the temple. We have used the old stones for the construction of the main structure of the temple," he added.
