Kartika Purnima or what most of we Odia in our childhood call as Danga Bhasa. The Kartika Purnima has a special significance in the maritime and trade history of Odisha but as a child what we enjoyed the most was the Danga Bhasa part.
Here are 7 things which will refresh your memory as to how we odia celebrated Kartika Purnima in our childhood days.
1) Getting prepared with the leftover firecrackers from Diwali
preparation for Kartika Purnima actually starts a day or two before. In childhood, we used to dry the leftover firecrackers from Diwali in the sun.
2) The selection of Danga(Boat)
This is the most crucial part. Some used to make it at home, but others used to buy it. Those memories of buying it with your parents are truly priceless.
3) Arranging all the required stuff for Danga Bhasa before sleeping
The excitement while arranging the stuff required for Danga Bhasa was immense. It starts with Packing the sun-dried crackers and then goes on to organising Pana ,Gua and dipa along with the danga.
4) Getting up early in the morning
Here comes the most challenging part getting up early in the morning and by early it then meant at morning 4-4.30 AM that too in winters. But we still managed to get up and get ready without alarm.
5) Danga Bhasa
This is the happiest part when you get say “Aa ka Ma Boi, Pana Gua Thoi, Pana Gua Tora, Masaka Dharama Mora” before sailing the boat (Danga) in the river banks and then tell to your siblings “Dekhe mo danga kete bata gala”
6) Visiting a nearby temple while coming back home
In Odisha we have a tradition of serving “kichidi bhata” and in some places “Khiri” in the temples early in the morning on Kartika Purnima. So while returning back home, collecting it from the temple was a must.
7) The food
How can even an odia festival end without food being a part of it? Even though the food prepared were pure veg, the taste of Habisa Dalma,Aura bhata and khata is beyond imagination.
These facts and memories of Kartika Purnima hold a very special place in the heart of every odia.
Please share this post with your friends, families, siblings and cherish the memories together. ❤️
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