Faisal Fareed
Daijiworld Media Network - Lucknow

Lucknow, Nov 8: The Lucknow Oriya Samaj, comprising people hailing from Odisha but presently residing in Lucknow will celebrate their traditional festival Kartik Purnima and Boita and Bandana on Thursday.

General secretary of the samaj, Dipti Ranjan Sahu informed newsmen that the festival will be celebrated on the banks of river Gomti at Jhulelal Park from 6 am on Thursday.

The 'boita bandana' festival that takes place in the morning of kartik purnima is significant to the ancient history of Odisha. This reminds of the maritime glory of the state. In olden days, the 'sadhabas' (sea traders) used to sail off to distant islands like Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Ceylon for their trade by huge boats (boita).

The women of the community gave them a hearty send off on this day. Those days are no more but the Oriya community still cherishes teh memory of the bygone era. Now as a symbolic of the old memories, people float tiny boats made out of cork and coloured paper or bark of the banyan tree while reminscing the past glory. The whole celebration is referred as 'boita bandana'.