Bada Osha: Know Significance Of ‘Gaja Bhoga’ On This Day

Cuttack: Bada Osha, one of the major auspicious days of the Odia calendar is celebrated in Odisha in the month of November or The Kartika Sukla Trayodashi (Thirteenth day of the Bright fortnight of Kartik Month) every year.

The specialty of this day gets enhanced with the prime ritual of the Lord Dhabaleswar temple and famous ‘Gaja Bhoga’ offerings.

Gajabhog and Tarana are the most favourite prasad of the Lord is prepared by the priests’ community. Gajabhog and Tarana are distributed among the devotees across the state.

Gaja Bhoga Looks Like white rasagolla, and this sweet dish is related to the Lord Dhabaleswar. In Odia, Dhabala means white.

The ‘Gaja Bhoga’ made of rice, flour, coconut, jaggery, and cardamom is offered to Lord Shiva and distributed to devotees. Lakhs of devotees come to the Dhabaleswar temple and every Lord Shiva temple.

As the district administration has imposed section 144 prohibiting devotees from entering the temple due to an unsafe suspension bridge over the Mahanadi River following the pedestrian suspension bridge collapse in the city of Morbi in Gujarat, the devotees observing Bada Osha can witness the divine Bada Singhara Besha of Lord Shiva on virtual mode.

According to Padma Purana, Lord Indra had prayed to Lord Dhabaleswar and taken a holy dip in the Mahanadi on the Kartika Purnima for a reprieve from the curse of Lord Brahma.

Every year during the Panchuka, devotees throngs to their nearby Lord Shiva shrine for Lord’s darshan.