Jharkhand Armed Police continues 380-year-old tradition, takes out idol-less procession

By Kritika Tiwary
RANCHI: Jharkhand Armed Police Puja (JAP) on the occasion of Saptami celebrated “phoolpati” where the personnel walked around the locality with a ‘kalash’ sitting in a palanquin made of bamboo along with nine unmarried girls.
The procession began from JAP-1 ground, marched to Ambedkar Chowk and Gorkha Chowk and then, returned to the ground. The procession was accompanied with the beating of drums and the devotees fired bullets in the air following tradition dating back to 1880.
Talking to TOI, Rachna Jaish, a devotee, said, “We worship a ‘kalash’ and carry it in the palanquin with three types of flowers and nine types of leaves, including peepal and mangoes.”
The devotees saluted the nine trees by firing bullets into the air to expressed their gratitude to the trees for taking care of them. Further, they asked for blessings for a happy and successful future.
Rajen Jama, a devotee, said, “Our celebration is unique and has a connection to the environment and biodiversity. On Sasthi, we invite nine trees and thank them for protecting us, along with policemen as the armed police also work in the forest. We seek blessings from the environment and trees. After inviting them on Sasthi, we brought out our procession on Saptami with these nine trees and fired bullets into the air to give them a salute.”
Similarly, on Saptami, goddess Chintamani was carried from the Badkaghar Jaganathpur temple to the 400 mteres away Ani Mauza temple in a spectacular procession with sounds of drums, ‘dhak’, ‘nagada’, conch shell, and clarinet. The five days of worship will continue in secret till Vijayadashami, as has been the custom for the past 380 years.
Sudhanshu Nath Sahdeo, a member of the Jaganathpur Temple’s Trust, said, “The grand artis are performed every day and goats are sacrificed for five days. On Navami, 51 goats are sacrificed as a part of worship.”