"Bada badua ho, andhaara re aasa, aluwa re jaa. Baaisi
pahaacha re gada gadau tha." "O forefathers, come to us in this
dark evening, we light your way to heaven. May you attain salvation on the
22 steps of the Jagannath temple of Puri."
There's not much different about Diwali Festival Celebrations in Orissa.
Rows of oil lamps, candles and lanterns adorn the thresholds of all houses.
Crackers are burst, sweetmeals are relished and distributed. It could be
akin to Diwali Festival anywhere else in India, save for one small ritual.
It is a ritual that calls upon the spirits of the family's forefathers. Jute
stems are burnt to light up the dark path that the spirits of the ancestors
take back to heaven.
All the members of the household gather together just after dusk. A rangoli
of a sailboat is made on the ground. The boat has seven chambers. Over the
drawing of each different chamber several items are kept - cotton, mustard,
salt, asparagus root, turmeric and a wild creeper. Over the central chamber
are the offerings meant for prasad. Perched over the prasad is a jute stem
with a cloth wick tied around the edge. It is lit at the beginning of the
puja. All members of the family hold a bundle of jute stems in their hands.
Lighting their respective bundles from the flame on the rangoli, they raise
them skywards chanting:
"Bada badua ho,
andhaara re aasa,
aluwa re jaa.
Baaisi pahaacha re gada gadau tha."
Beside the rangoli, a mortar and pestle and a plough are also kept and
worshiped. After the puja and offerings, the family celebrates Diwali
festival by bursting crackers. As in other regions, most people prefer to
celebrate it in their own homes, though family gatherings are also common.
For Diwali houses are brightly lit, with the doors and windows kept open as
Lakshmi is supposed to visit every home, and you can't afford to leave it
dark and abandoned.
