Thakurani Yatra at Berhampur is held once in two years in Chaitra Month. It
is the visit of the Mother Goddess worshipped in the Maa Budhi Thakurani Temple
to Berhampur town in Odisha. The visit lasts nearly a month. Next Thakurani Yatra
2025 dates at Berhampur is from March . The festival ends on April 2025.
Maa Budhi Thakurani Yatra begins with a grand procession
from Berhampur to Maa Budhi Thakurani Temple.
Preparations for the festival commences at the Desi Behera Sahi after the Subha Khunti (auspicious post) is installed.
The date for the 28-day Thakurani Yatra is fixed by the yatra
management committee at the house of Desi Behera P Durga Prasad, Chief
of the Dera community, as suggested by Byomokoti
Basudev Sashtri Sidhanti.
History Of Thakurani Yatra
According to eminent historians, the cult of Budhi Thakurani originated
along with the emergence of Berhampur town around 1672 AD. Telugu
Lingayat Dera (weaver) community, who came to Mahuri on the invitation
of Raja Saheb of Mahuri to take up their profession of weaving, started
their ‘Ghata Yatra’ (Pot Festival) for highlighting the divinity of
Mahamayee Thakurani of his capital town Berhampur.
Head of Devangiris (weaving community), and his wife perform
rituals at the temple and return with a garland of Itala (Ita malli) in a
basket. The garland is kept in a thatched house erected in front of house of
the head of Devangiris.
Ghata parikrama is the most important ritual of the festival, which begins on the third day. The garland is put inside a decorated earthen pot, called Ghata. Eight more pots, which represent the parsadevata, are lined up inside the hut.
Ghata parikrama is the most important ritual of the festival, which begins on the third day. The garland is put inside a decorated earthen pot, called Ghata. Eight more pots, which represent the parsadevata, are lined up inside the hut.
Budhi Thakurani is considered the daughter of the Desi Behera and the
deity stays with her father’s family during the entire Yatra period.
Goddess is considered as their daughter by the citizens of Berhampur
and her visit is noted for chanting of shlokas, prayers, sounding of conch,
beating of bells, dancing and fire crackers.
Nowadays,
the festival is famous for people adorning numerous costumes of characters from
Hindu scriptures and other characters from day-to-day life.
The Odisha government has recognised ‘Thakurani Yatra’ in Berhampur as
the 6th state festival. The other festivals were ‘Dhanu Yatra’ in
Bargarh, ‘Parab’ in Koraput, ‘Mukteswar’ and ‘Rajarani’ in Bhubaneswar
and ‘Konark Festival’ in Konark.