Harirajpur Panchu Dola Melana 2020
The Panchudola Melana at Harirajpur begins at Harirajpur located near Jatni. The location is about 20 km away from Bhubaneswar. Harirajpur hosts a week-long festival every year. The Panchudola Melana is a sacred gathering of deities of more than 90 villages. In the process, the deities decked up in all their glory mounted on ‘Dola Bimana’s’.
As per the traditions and rituals, Paschima Sambhu Somnath Dev, the presiding deity of Harirajpur, invites the deities to Harirajpur to play Holi. On the first day, Somnath Dev’s representative idol placed in a decorated palanquin or Bimana is taken out from the temple to the ‘Melana’ ground in a grand procession amidst ‘Sankirtan’ (devotional chanting), traditional dances such as ‘Ghoda Nacha’, the beating of gongs and bursting of firecrackers. The procession starts at about 10 pm and ends at about 5 am the next day.
The festival is known as Panchu Dola Melana because it is held on the 5th day from Dola Purnima. The localities say two villagers named Babaji Gobardhan Das and Nitei Sahu started this way back in 1637.
This year it is being celebrated from March 14 to 17. Here we have images and videos from Melana.
Also Read: Jhulana Yatra – Its origin and celebration in Sri Jagannath Temple
