Women royal scions clean roads

Berhampur: Defying the tradition of the male-dominant practices, the women of two royal families in Ganjam and Gajapati districts performed the chhera pahanra (cleaning of the roads) before pulling the chariots at the abode of Lord Jagannath.
Sulakhyana Devi and Kayani Devi, the royal scions of Dharakote estate in Ganjam district and Paralakhemundi in Gajapati district, respectively performed the ‘chhera pahanra’ — the service to the Lord due to the absence of the male persons in their families for the past few years. Sulakhyana Devi, also the chairperson of Daharakote panchayat samiti, has been performing this service of the Lord for the last 14 years after the death of her father Kishor Chandra Singhdeo.
Kalyani Devi, daughter of Berhampur’s former MP Gopinath Gajapati, has been performing chhera pahanra at Paralakhemundi after the death of her father for the last seven years.
Clad in royal attire and a turban tied on their heads, the women members of the royal families performed the rituals, including chhera pahanra on the occasion of Rath Yatra under the direction of priests.
Several thousands of people in and around the areas thronged to the respective towns to witness the scene amid tight security.
“I feel very proud to perform the rituals of the Lord,” said Sulakhyana. “I have maintained the tradition of our family, where my father and forefathers had performed these services to the Lord,” she added.
Kalyani Devi is the only daughter of Gopinath Narayan Dev. While her mother Suparna Devi died about 22 years ago, her brother died at Chennai seven years ago. “As she is the only person of the royal family, she practises the royal tradition,” said P Ch Mohapatra, a historian.
The Jagannath temple at Paralakhemundi was established in the 18th century by Goura Chandra Narayan Dev — the father of Krushna Chandra Gajapati — the grandfather of Gopinath Gajapati.