Jamshedpur: Devotees marked the beginning of the Chaitra Navratri Jwara Festival by performing the “Birih Bhigona” (seed soaking) ritual at Shri Shri Sheetla Mata Temple in Tuiladungri.
After offering prayers to Goddess Sheetla, devotees followed traditional Chhattisgarhi customs and soaked a mixture of seven grains—wheat, barley, urad, chana, peas, moong, and masoor—in a large earthen pot. Participants took part in the ritual by offering five handfuls of the grain mixture each.
Organisers will sow the soaked seeds in soil and manure on Friday morning. In the evening, they will light 23 Akhand Jyots (eternal flames) as part of the ceremony.
Devotees believe the colour of the Jwara (sprouts) indicates future prosperity. White and green sprouts signify growth, while green and yellow suggest mixed outcomes.
The temple resonated with devotional songs and bhajans as a local Jash troupe performed after the ritual. Organisers have scheduled the Jyot lighting ceremony at 4 pm. A Jash troupe from Chhattisgarh will also perform during the nine-day festival.
Raju Giri, Suraj Bhadani, and Temple Committee President Dinesh Kumar are expected to attend the ceremony.
Several devotees, including Dinesh Kumar, Parmanand Kaushal, Girdhari Sahu, Khaleshwar Sahu, Shukritdas Manikpuri, Chandrabhushan, Triveni Kumar, Mahavir Prasad, Motilal Sahu, Birendra Sahu, Anil Kumar, Dharmendra Sahu, Prasad Rao, Indra Sahu, Phulo Devi, Dayalu Nishad, Nutan Sahu, Manju Thakur, Roshan Sahu, Vijay Das Manikpuri, Deepak Sahu, Gangaram Sahu, Bihari Lal, Lakshmi Nishad, Kamala Nishad, Babli Sahu, Naresh Nishad, Poonam Thakur, Gauri Sahu, Manju Sahu, Devvati, Om Nishad, Bela Singh, Aarti Devi, and others attended Thursday’s ritual.
