Jamshedpur Durga Puja: Raja Pratap Aditya Singhdev to head 346 year old Sarvajanik Durgotsav

Mail News Service

Seraikela,   August 23: The worship of Divine Mother Durga has been performed through centuries and generations and Saraikela’s Durgotsav is recorded as the most ancient. Ma Durga has been worshipped through 346 years – a tradition that has been passed down the line by the Maharajas of the princely estate of Saraikela. The Durgotsav continues to be observed but may be with a little less sheen because the status of Princely Estate has been withdrawn. However, the zest, zeal and devotion have not been relegated and the annual Durgotsav is observed and celebrated with the traditional piety and gaiety that makes the Sarvajanik Durga Puja of Saraikela standing tall in the entire region. Even the two years of the pandemic strain, has not been able to subdue the ebullience of the people. The crowd and fanfare of the Sharadiya season may have been less but the spirit of it all were very much present among the people. And this year too, the fervor continues to excite.

Preparations are afoot to celebrate Durgotsav – 2022. A meeting of the oldest Sarvajanik Durga Puja committee of Saraikela was organized for reconstituting the committee and drawing a blueprint of programmes to be undertaken for this year’s Durgotsav. The meeting was chaired by Raja Pratap Aditya Singhdev.  The reconstitution of the committee was unanimous. The reconstituted Sarvajanik Durga Puja Committee of Saraikela included Raja Pratap Aditya Singhdev (President), Shridhar Singhdev and Golak Bihari Pati (Vice Presidents), Bhola Mahanty  (Secretary),  Devraj Singhdeo and Pawan Kavi (Joint Secretaries), Suman Dhir Samant alias Pappu (Treasurer), Shambhu Patnaik and Papun Rath (Joint Treasurers), Rajat Kumar Patnaik  (Cultural Secretary), Manoranjan Sahu and Rupesh Sahu (Joint Cultural Secretaries) and Sanat Sahu, Sanat Samal, Sitaram Sahu, Suman Sarangi and Gyan Ranjan Acharya (Fair Coordinators).

The statement of accounts for the year 2021 was presented by the then Treasurer of the Committee, Suman Dheer Samant alias Pappu and was unanimously adopted by the house.

The meeting decided that Durga Puja would be performed traditionally while maintaining all government guidelines.

Among those present in the meeting included Devi Prasanna Sarangi, Anant Acharya, Anil Mahanty, Kashinath Kar, Dhiru Sarangi, Dipun Rath, Munna Maharana, Vishwajit Karji, Milan Singhdev, Ramnath Sarangi, Asit Kumar Gupta, Samar Mahanty, Tushar Kant Rana, Amit Dash, Aditya Sahu, Akash Kumar Sahu, Shiv Shankar Sahu, Manoj Kumar Maharana and Rajesh Kumar Parihari.

A brief history of Saraikela Sarvajanik Durgotsav

Saraikela’s Sarvajanik Durga Puja has been celebrated through 346 years. The committee baton has obviously changed hands but the stature and piety of celebrating the Queen of all festivals have never deviated from the traditional form of devotion and commitment. People in the know have claimed that the Sarvajanin Durga Puja was initiated by the then ruler of Saraikela Estate, Raja Arjun Singh in 1676 when he set up a committee comprising his subjects to organize the annual Durgotsav. That was the beginning of the 346 year old Saraikela Sarvajanik Durga Puja Committee.  Special arrangements for Durgotsav were made with public donations and the worship was performed outside the palace compound for participation of all the king’s subjects. It waqs since then that the Durgotsav became Sarvajanik (public). A committee was constituted to organize the Puja Utsav with the condition that the ex-officio chairman had to be from the royal family. This has been the norm through the centuries and although the concept of princely estate has been abolished, the lineage of Rajas continues as do the Saraikela Sarvajanik Durga Puja Committee norms.

Traditional Mahasandhi Puja norms

Mahasandhi Puja is performed on the midnight of Mahashtami and Mahanavami of Durga Puja. The prayers are performed according to Tantric rituals that requires buffalo sacrifice at the Mother’s feet to please Her. According to history, going back to the period of the Rajas of Saraikela estate, the animal sacrifice was performed at the sound of a cannon being fired. The sound of the cannon fire was the signal for buffalo sacrifice at the Ma Keda Mandir in Chakradharpur under the erstwhile Podahat State. The sound of canon fire was also the signal for commencement of animal sacrifice at the Saraikela Durga Puja site. Shortly, the tradition of firing canons signifying the sacrificial time, started at the forts in Doubani, Banksai and Icha.  The tradition of worshipping Ma Durga as per Tantric norms continues till today. The sound of cannon fire however, has passed into history.