Sital sasthi or Sitalsasthi is a major festival of the Kalinga region or what is known as Orissa in present days. Sital sasthi will fall on June 6 this year. The festival has been celebrated in the Utkal region since centuries and signifies the marriage of Lord Bholanath and Mother Parvati.
Sital Sasthi: Celebrated In Kalinga For The Last 400 Years
The genesis of the festival dates back to 400 years when the regent of Sambalpur decreed that Sital sasthi festival be celebrated under the auspices of Utkal Brahmins also known as Odia brahmans and Aranyaka Brahmins also known as Jhadua Brahmans.
The festival signifies the end of the summer season especially the Nava Tapa when the sun is at its hottest scorching the plains of the dusty plains of North India and the Great Plains of Sambalpur which is fed by the river Mahanadi. The Sital sasthi signifies the end of the summer season and the arrival of welcome rains or the monsoons.
Sital Sasthi: Celebrating The Marraige Of Lord Shiva And Parvati
The festival is celebrated with much pomp and gaiety by the residents of Nandapada, Sambalpur, and Puri district. The Sital sasthi is observed to celebrate the marriage of Shiva and Parvati. Legend goes as follows: After the demise of his wife Sati, Shiva was filled with anger and remorse and carried the body of Sati and started his dance of destruction or Tandav. The world was at the brink of extinction when Lord Vishnu sent his Sudarshan Chakra which cut the body of Sati into a number of pieces. Wherever the piece fell it became a shakti peeth. Shiva calmed down and went to a state of deep Yoga.
Meanwhile a Demon named Tarakasura blinded by a boon that he could be killed only by the son of Lord Shiva was tormenting the people on the three realms, Earth, Pataal and Heaven. All the Gods appealed to Mother Shakti to be born as Parvati who would later marry Lord Shiva and his offspring will kill Tarakasura and serve deliverance to the three worlds from his atrocities.
Sital sasthi is observed to celebrate the marriage of Gouri and Shankar – as depicted in the Shiva Purana. . On the Jyeshta Shukla paksha Panchami they got married.
