SAMBALPUR: Festivity is in air at Sambalpur with the marriage of the divine couple Lord Shiva and Parvati solemnised on Thursday night.

Sital Sasthi is an important event in the cultural calendar of western Odisha. The festival is conceived as real marriage of a man with a woman from two different families of the town playing the role of parents, one of them as the Barapita (groom’s father) and the other as Kanyapita (bride’s father). The entire ritual of marriage was performed with the bride’s father offering the hand of his daughter in marriage to Lord Shiva who was brought in a grand procession to the house of the bride.  Since ‘Kanya Daan’ is considered auspicious, there is a tough competition among those who want perform the marriage of the bride. The festival committee decides on the bride’s parents. And like any other marriages, the Kanyapita gives dowry which includes jewellery, furniture, besides refrigerators, air coolers and television.

Besides Sambalpur, it is also observed with pomp and gaiety in all the districts of western Odisha. People from neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand also throng Sambalpur to participate.

Sital Sasthi festival is said to have started in the 16th century under the patronage of the then Chauhan ruler of Sambalpur to usher rains after the months of blistering heat. Originally, the festival began at Somnath temple at Balibandha and later organised at the temple of Balunkeswar Baba at Nandapada. In due course, marriage of Loknath Baba of Jharuapada temple was also solemnised and the temple of Jageswar Baba at Mudipada joined the celebrations in 1978.

And with temples of Gupteswar of Thakurpada, Sitaleswar of Badbazar also organising the festival in a big way, Sital Sasthi has obtained a new dimension altogether.