‘Kansa’ takes holy dip in sea in Odisha’s Puri, seeks forgiveness from Lord

Puri: A day after curtains came down on the 11-day-long Dhanu Jatra in Odisha’s Bargarh town, Bhubaneswar Pradhan, the man who played the role of King Kansa, along with persons who played the characters of his ministers took a holy dip in sea in Puri today and visited the Shree Jagannath Temple here to seek forgiveness from the Lord and get themselves cleansed of the sins they had committed while enacting their roles.

Pradhan and other members of his troupe took a bath in the sea to get rid of their bad deeds as Kansa and his ministers.

Later, he and his fellow actors left for the Shree Mandir, where they had a darshan of the deities. They also visited Govardhan Pitha here to seek blessings of Jagadguru Shankaracharya.

Worth mentioning, Pradhan was selected among 23 artistes for playing the character through an audition held at the District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) office in Bargarh on November 28.

The role of King Kansa was earlier being played by Hrushikesh Bhoi.

Notably, the Dhanu Jatra concluded yesterday with the death of tyrannical King Kansa at the hands of his nephew Lord Krishna.

During the fest, Bargarh transforms into Mathura while river Jeera represents river Yamuna and Ambapali, located on the other side of the river, turns Gopapura.

The rule of Kansa and leela of Lord Krishna are enacted at several places in Mathura and Gopapura during the Dhanu Jatra.