Sital Sasthi festival of Lord Lingaraj to be held on low-key note this year

Bhubaneswar: The Sital Sasthi festival will be held at Ekamra Kshetra amid COVID-19 restrictions this year too.

Like Rukuna Ratha Jatra and Chandan Jatra of Lord Lingaraj, the divine marriage of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati will be held without participation of devotees. The rituals will be carried out by only seven servitors.

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has laid certain conditions for servitors who will be present during the event.

As per Hindu almanac, the Sital Sasthi festival will be celebrated on June 16 this year. The divine marriage will be solemnised on June 15 night.

As the lockdown is in force till June 17 in the State, the festival will take place as per the guidelines issued by the BMC in view of COVID infections.

Source said that the Lingaraj Temple Administration will submit a list of servitors who will participate in the event. The wedding procession without decoration will begin at 11.00 PM on June 15. The divine wedding will be held on a low-key note as per the BMC’s order. The security arrangement will be monitored by Bhubaneswar DCP.

According to reports, the servitors and police personnel, who will be engaged in the festival, will undergo COVID RT-PCR test. The servitors will carry out the rituals by wearing face masks and maintaining physical distancing. All the servitors will undergo thermal screening every day.

Ahead of the event, the road between the Lingaraj Temple and Kedar Gouri Temple will be sanitised.

Similarly, the places where the deities will be halted will also be disinfected.