worshipping the sun will cure all diseases. :-Worship will be done in 27 constellations in 27 days

Kakatpur/Astaranga:-30/12:-Shamba Dashami and Paush Shukla Dashami are celebrated. Shamba Dashami is the festival of Sun worship, just like Kumar Purnami and Chandra Puja.

Although various festivals are celebrated throughout the twelve months of the year, most of the festivals are celebrated between Shravan Amavasya Chitalagi and Paush ShuklaDashami.

On the occasion of Shamba Dashami, women of Konark, Astaranga and Kakatpur areas of Puri district celebrate the festival of Sambadashami with great devotion, wishing the well-being of their children.

Surya Aalati was performed on behalf of the Gayatri family on the Chandrabhaga beach. The speciality of this festival is that three types of incense or puja are performed at home, focusing on the three positions of the sun in the sky. The first incense is offered at dawn.

Hindu women, being pure and pure, offer offerings of fruits and sweets at this time. At this Brahma Muhurta, the first incense is offered, andthe  Surya Purana is recited. At noon, the second incense is offered to the sun, Bhaskara, who is blazing at noon.

This is the main incense of the Shambhava tenor. In this, Gaintha, Atakali, various types of cakes, Khechudi, Ghadaghada Tiyana, etc., are offered.

The last incense or the third incense is for the sun god who travels in the evening. Enduri, Kakara, Malpua, Gaja, etc. are also offered with this incense. Shambha Purana is included in the Surya Purana.

This sub-purana describes the meaning of Shambhadasami. In this Shambha Purana, Devarshi Narada has told Shri Krishna to give Jambavati’s son Shambha. According to the name of Shambha, this Dashami is called Shambha Dashami, and in the village, it is called Samvar Dashami.

It is said that Shri Krishna cursed Samava to become a leper. Shri Krishna, regretting cursing his son, asked Durvasa how to cure his son Samava of leprosy.

Durvasa told him about the Konark and instructed Samba to worship the sun in that place. The greatness of Chandrabhaga Tirtha is described in detail in the Sanskrit Samava Purana.

Samava entered the holy place Chandrabhaga Tirtha with Devarshi Narada. That day was the tenth day of the first day of the month of Poushama.

There he worshipped the sun. He performed penance while looking at the sun. Samava did penance on the banks of the Chandrabhaga River and found a gem deity of Surya Narayana or Lord Aditya Narayana.

The sun is the embodiment of Lord Narayana. With his blessings, Samava got rid of his chronic disease and got a beautiful body.

This day was the seventh day of the bright fortnight of the month of Magha. Samba was freed from leprosy and spread the practice of sun worship throughout Kalinga. Since then, fasting and worship of the sun on Samba Dashami have been practised in our country.

It is said that Devarshi Narada Bhubana Bhaskara himself was afflicted with leprosy due to the curse of Suryadev.

Narada was also freed from leprosy by chanting the twelve names of the sun, namely Aditya, Bhaskara, Prabhakara, Divakar, Sahasransu, Trilok-Lochana, Dededevesha, Saaryaaraman, Dinkara, Dvadasavatani Trivikram, Suryadev and worshipping the sun. That is why this Dashami is called Samba Dashami. Samba made an idol of the sun in sand.

The sixteen remedies were worshipped with various flowers, incense, lamps, sandalwood, etc.

The place is today’s Konark. Surya Rath Yatra is a very old and unique chariot festival held in Konark. On the tenth day of Samava, the moving idol of the Sun God, Mitraditya, rides on a chariot of the Sun, and returns to Chandrabhaga on the bright seventh day of the month of Magha.

It is mentioned in the Kapila Samhita that if one takes a bath in the morning on the tenth day of Samava and sees Mitraditya in a chariot, one gets freedom from diseases, sorrows and fears and is not reborn. Samava worshipped this idol in Konark and also introduced the Surya Rath Yatra.

Over time, the kings of Odisha, Purandar Keshari and Langula Narasimha Dev, continued this tradition. Later, due to the destruction of the Sun Temple, the worship stopped, and the Surya Rath Yatra also stopped, as is known from the Madala Panji. Again in 1998, the deceased Mahant Artatran Das of Ananta Abhuta Math introduced this Rath Yatra.

Since 1998, the Surya Rath Yatra has been celebrated every year on Sambadashami by the Saura Brahmin Parishad, Gayatri Family and the Mahant of the Abhuta Math.

According to tradition, the Vishwashanti Graha Yaghana is performed at the ashram of Maitreya Rishi and the Sadhana Peeth of Sambad, Ananta Abhuta Math, and the Purnahuti is given before sunset on the eve of Sambadashami.

Konark Abhuta Math Mahant, Abhuta Aditya Charan Dash said that from 6 am, the rising Sun is offered Kakara Bhog, Arkbat Pujaarchan, and the 108 chariot side deities and the seven horses are worshipped as per the Konark temple worship rules, and then the Surya Deva is taken on a chariot ride from Ananta Abhuta Math.

After the morning procession, the Matha Mahant rides the chariot, and the saints and devotees present pull the chariot towards Chandrabhaga. The Surya Rath leaves and reaches Chandrabhaga Teertha on the same day, where they bathe in the Teertha Pushkarani.

After bathing, the idol of the Sun moves in 27 constellations in the Ashram of Sotaraam Baba, and this continues for 27 days until Magha Saptami.

On Magha Saptami, the idol returns to the Ananta Abhuta Math, his birthplace. On this day, thousands of devotees throng Chandrabhaga Bela Marg.