Bhubaneswar: Denizens dipped in festive fervour starting from the morning today as the state celebrated ‘Raksha Bandhan’ or Gamha Purnima signifying the divine bond between brother and sister with much pomp and gaiety.
To mark the festival, brothers and sisters in every household of the state started preparation very early in the morning. While girls prepared the ‘puja thali’ filled with colourful rachis along with tilak, rice, lamps and sweets boys got prepared for the occasion by taking bath early in the morning and keeping that adorable gift ready for their beloved sisters.
After performance of ‘aarti’ for the wellbeing of their brothers, girls put tilak on their forehead and tied rakhi threads on wrists. Later, brothers and sisters exchanged sweets among them as a mark of affection. Finally, brothers presented the gifts to their sister as a token of love.
Rakhi Purnima is not limited or restricted to brothers and sisters only in the state as schools and colleges and several socio-cultural organisations also observe it with an objective to nurture brotherhood among people.
As Gamha Purnima is also observed on the same day, cows get worshipped especially in the rural belts to mark it.
Rakhi Purnima started at the Sri Jagannath Temple at Puri with Devi Subhadra tying rakhi on the wrists of her brothers Lord Balabhadra and Lord Jagannath. Members of the Patara Bisoi servitors class have made four rachis for the occasion. While, the rakhi for Lord Jagannath is painted red and yellow the same for Lord Balabhadra happens to be blue and violet.
The birth ceremony of Lord Balabhadra is also observed on the same day at the Srmandir and all the six idols (Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra, Sudarshan Bhudevi and Sridevi) are bejewelled with gold ornaments. The Sudha Suar, a particular class of servitors prepare puja with the help of Puja Panda, Pati Mohapatra and Mudirasta servitors and after that the rakhi bejewelled with gold is given to Lord Balabhadra.
Prasanta Patnaik 
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