Bureau (14 January 2025): The annual Dhanu Yatra festival at Bargarh has come to a close this year. Bhubaneswar Pradhan, who played the role of King Kansa, arrived in Puri from Bargarh to perform the traditional rituals of atonement. On Tuesday, he took a holy dip in the sea and offered his sacred thread (paita) as part of the ceremonial cleansing.
Following this, he visited the Govardhan Peeth to receive blessings from Jagadguru Shankaracharya and later proceeded to the Shree Jagannath Temple to seek forgiveness from Lord Jagannath.
According to the Dhanu Yatra story, the mighty King Kansa of Mathura committed many injustices and hatched plots to kill Lord Krishna and Balarama. Hence, every year, the artist portraying Kansa travels to Puri to perform these rituals of atonement.
