Berhampur keen to host a neat & clean puja

BERHAMPUR: The Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BMC) has asked puja committees and traders in the town to keep their surroundings clean during Dussehra as the Silk City recently saw an outbreak of dengue. "We have asked puja organizers to ensure the pandal surroundings are clean. Similarly, business establishments have also been asked to dump garbage only in dustbins. Sweepers of the BMC will collect the garbage from their doorsteps," BMC commissioner A K Mohanty said.

"Sanitation is essential as thousands of people visit the city every day during Dussehera to have a glimpse of decorated pandals and idols, as well as for shopping. We have also talked to officials of Ganjam Chamber of Commerce (GCC) in this regard. We will write to them again so that the traders put up dustbins at their establishments, at least during the Puja period," the commissioner said.

A meeting between the BMC officials and puja organizers was held here on Wednesday. The town will have at least 60 community pujas. While rituals have already started at some of these pandals since Mahalaya, at some places puja will begin from Mahasthami.

Mayor S S Das said the civic body would extend all possible cooperation to the puja committees in order to keep their pandal premises neat and clean.

Ganjam district malaria officer U K Mishra said almost 50 per cent of the dengue positive cases in the district were reported from Berhampur. In view of this, maintaining cleanliness during the puja is a must.

The BMC commissioner also said anti-mosquito fogging drives would continue in the town during the puja. At least four fogging machines had already been pressed into service, he added.

Source: Times of India, Business Standard

Thousands throng Tara Tarini hill shrine on first Tuesday of Chaitra

The famous annual Chaitra festival at the Tara Tarini hill shrine near Berhampur city in Orissa started from Tuesday. It is believed that Taratarini Sthana Peeth (Breast Shrine of Mata Sati) is one of the ancient and among the four major Shakti centers in India. Thousands of devotees had started gathering at the hill shrine from Monday afternoon itself. Transport Secretary Government of Orissa Shri Satyabrata Sahu, RDC Southern Division and Chairman of TTDB Shri Chandrasekhar Kumar, Ganjam District Collector Shri VK Pandian and many other senior state and central government officials, apart from the office bearers of TTDB and Temple Management were present on the occasion.

The Tara Tarini Development Board (TTDB) made elaborate arrangements for the devotees. Apart from the aerial rope way the TTDB had also arranged special buses to carry visitors to the hill top. But most of the devotees, of all age groups, preferred to climb the 999 holy steps to the hilltop as they consider it to be a penance. Recently the steps have been repaired before the annual festival. The ghat road to the hilltop and the foot hill roads have also been widened in view of the growing number of visitors to the Shrine. On Tuesday only the special buses of the TTDB were allowed to ply on the ghat road for security reasons.

The Army Air Defence College, Gopalpur, Berhampur Municipal Corporation, Ganjam District administration and District police made elaborate arrangements for the visitors. The volunteers of the TTDB, different NGOs and voluntary organizations, the temple management and local residents actively helped the devotees who came from various parts of the state and other neighbouring states.

2nd phase to start at Sthana Peetha Taratarini under new chairman

Bhubaneswar: Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) of Southern Division of Odisha Chandrasekhar Kumar is the new chairman of the Tara Tarini Development Board (TTDB), a prominent temple administration body in Ganjam district. He has taken over from the outgoing RDC and former TTDB chairman Satyabrata Sahu who is now the Commerce & Transport Secretary of the State Government. It was under the guidance of the former chairman that the first phase of the stone temple was completed. This religious shrine is believed to be the Sthana Peetha (Breast Shrine) of Mata Sati and one amongst the four major ancient Shakti centers in India.The new chairman visited the shrine and discussed the commencement of the second phase of work. Board Secretary Pramod Panda along with the other board members tabled the primary draft of the second phase of work and it was decided to finish all on-going work before the upcoming Chaitra MelaThe projects in the second phase include completion of Kalyana Mandapam, construction of huge hill-top parking space, widening of stone steps and arrangement of public utilities or rest houses, maintenance of eco-system, construction of a hospital and the construction of a residential school and training centre for the physically challenged.
Source: The Pioneer