Skip to main content

Manabasa Gurubar || Famous Festival of Odisha

The story of “Manabasa Gurubar” teaches us against the evil practices of Untouchability in ancient society. It also stresses the importance of feminism and empowers the female power to not get suppressed by male hegemony.

The word Manabasa comes from two words Mana (a measuring unit to measure paddy in olden days) a pot made of Bamboo cane is filled with freshly harvested paddy, and Basa(to keep it as a designated place for worship). The doors and walls are decorated with chita (rangoli used nowadays, but earlier a thin mix of water and rice paste was sprinkled on the walls by hand to form beautiful white designs) beautifully. It’s believed goddess Lakshmi won’t visit if the house is not clean.

It’s also called “Margashira Masa Gurubara“; Gurubara is “Thursday” and Margashira is the month of “मार्गशीर्ष” in Hindi.

Legend of Manabasa Gurubar is based on the ancient scripture “Lakshmi Puran”. Since the untouchables were not allowed to pray, worship and do rituals to God in the ancient ages, this story teaches us against that practice.

At that time Shriya a woman from untouchables prays and wins over the support of Goddess Lakshmi, who then visited her home and had food cooked by her there. This angered Balarama, the elder brother of Sri Jagannath (Husband of Goddess Lakshmi). At the behest of Balarama, Jagannath drove Lakshmi out of their home because she ate at the house of an untouchable.

As Lakshmi moves out of Jagannath’s house, both Jagannath and Balram undergo immense suffering, even they have to starve without shelter, water and food for 12 years. Soon they realized the importance of Lakshmi and requested Maa Lakshmi to come back home. Lakshmi finally returned to Jagannath’s house, but on one condition that there will be no discrimination of caste and creed on earth.

This unique story highlights the fact that for God everyone is equal. Besides it reflected the progressive stance of Gods from the ancient times. Only in the end through Narad, it is revealed that Lord Jagannath himself, to end castism and discrimination from this earth, had “set up” these series of events which conveyed the social message.

The story not only motivates against Castism but also highlights Women Empowerment.

Want to read this in Odia? See here.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Addiction to Technology.

  I keep hearing everyday within my family, my friend circle and everyone else that I meet regularly, about my addiction to tech gadgets. Let’s give it some thought to see how true is that. Oxford dictionary quotes “ The fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance or activity “. Cambridge dictionary days “ An inability to stop doing our using something, especially something harmful “. Look at the second definition, it also says “something harmful”, which is a very relative thing. Horse riding can be very harmful for some whereas it’s the bread and butter for a jockey or a Polo player. Operating the blast furnace of a steel plant can be extremely dangerous, but it’s the job for the operator. A priest goes to temple everyday and spends most of the day there, is he addicted to it? My father used to go to work everyday, was he addicted too? Nope, they were doing their jobs. Fair enough, then how can anyone call m...
Post a Comment
Read more

Benefits and side effects of Green Tea

  Health Benefits Of Drіnkіng Grееn Tea Millions оf реорlе around the wоrld enjoy a hot сuр оf tea еvеrу day. Today, tea is considered аѕ thе most wіdеlу соnѕumеd bеvеrаgе іn thе world, ѕесоnd tо wаtеr. Tеа соmеѕ іn three varieties nаmеlу ооlоng, blасk and grееn tea. Amоng thеѕе, grееn tea hаѕ the hіghеѕt соnсеntrаtіоn оf the роwеrful аntіоxіdаnt called catechin polyphenols. Drіnkіng green tеа еvеrу dау іѕ hіghlу rесоmmеndеd tоdау to kеер bоdу healthy and hеlр рrеvеnt certain dіѕеаѕе. Thеѕе аntіоxіdаntѕ hеlр fіght frее rаdісаlѕ that are knоwn tо bе a mаjоr соntrіbutіng factor tо аgіng аnd сеll degeneration. Green tea is mаdе frоm fresh unfеrmеntеd leaves оf Cаmеllіа sinensis; іt has lеѕѕ amount оf саffеіnе соmраrеd tо blасk tеа and oolong tea. Hеаlth bеnеfіtѕ of drіnkіng tеа wеrе dіѕсоvеrеd аѕ еаrlу аѕ 4000 уеаrѕ аgо in Chіnа, аnd іt wаѕ initially knоwn tо сurе gеnеrаl bоdу aches аnd раіnѕ, constipation and dерrеѕѕіоn. Rеѕеаrсh ѕhоwѕ that drinking tea іѕ mоrе thаn juѕt еnjоуіng a ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Teachings from The Mahabharata #001

In Mahabharata yuddha Bheem killed Duryodhan by hitting his thigh as per the suggestion of Lord Krishna. Duryodhan was deciple of Lord Balarama, the mightly elder brother of Lord Krishna. Hence Balarama became furious when he heard this news and rushed in to kill Bheem. However Lord Krishna intervened and told him - "Brother, if you're so worried about the rules being broken": 1. Then where were you when Dusashana pulled Draupadi into the Kuru Sabha by her hair? 2. Where were you when Dusashana tried to take her Saree off? 3. Where were you when Duryodhana was bursting out in laughter on above act of Dusashana? 4. Where were you when Duryodhana denied to give even 5 villages to the Pandavas? If you didn't speak a word on any of the above occasions, then you've no right to kill Bheem now. Moral of the story - you must take a side in a "Dharma Yuddha", can't just sit on the fence and later shout 'injustice'.
Post a Comment
Read more