Residents of sesaide hamlets cling to unconventional practice

Residents of seaside hamlets in Odisha's Kendrapara district, predominantly inhabited by migrant Bengali-speaking local settlers, continue to cling on to an unconventional practice of immersing the idols of Goddess Manasha in Mahanadi River while garlanding the deities with wads of currency notes.
The religious ritual is in vogue in villages of Ramnagar, Batighar, Jamboo, Kharinasi, Sanatubi, Badatubi, Nipania and Luimathia.
These areas with casurina forest are snake-infested spots. Cases of snake-bites are reported in these villages at periodic intervals. People worship the Goddess to ward off possible biting by venomous snakes, ex-sarpanch of Ramnagar Gram Panchayat, Bijoy Shukla said today.

The practice is as old as the settlement of migrant people here that dates back to sixties. Despite deity worship, the cases of snake biting have not dropped. The earthen idols of Goddess are worshiped in boats and then immersed in river along with the garlands of currency notes, he said.