Cuttack, June 1: An essentially Hindu ceremony performed in Cuttack on Saturday managed to break down social and religious barriers successfully as it embraced “different” people from all sections of the society and made them an integral part of the event.

A Cuttack-based spiritual association, Reiki Mission, organised a daylong maharudrabhishek or Shiv Puja with the help of 1,008 shiv lingas. The shiv lingas consecrated on the Mahanadi bed at Gadgadia ghat for the puja were especially brought from Kanchan, a Shaivite religious site in Madhya Pradesh.

“It was indeed a first-of-it’s kind ceremony in the state, as sex workers, eunuchs and leprosy patients were also encouraged to participated in the ritual to appease Rudra (Lord Shiv) to protect the world from wars, epidemics and calamities,” said Bibhu Patel, the spokesperson for the Reiki Mission.

According to Hindu scriptures, strife, calamities and diseases would plague the planet between 2008 and 2011, taking a huge toll on mankind.

More than 60,000 people, including monks, seers and general public from across the state and other parts of the country also participated in the puja that continued well into the dusk on Saturday.

The last of the surviving devadasis of Lord Jagannath of Puri Sashimani was also present at the ceremony.

The ritual was performed with equal participation of members of the “most oppressed” of the society consisting of sex workers, enuchs and people afflicted with leprosy. “Participation of the downtrodden sections of the society was necessary, as Shiva, scriptures state, took the form of many of them,” explained Shri Santha, the founder and head of Reiki Mission.

Sex workers and eunuchs from Raipur, Bangalore, Calcutta and parts of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa had turned up for ritual, the spokesperson said.

At the planning stage, the mission members had undertaken a countrywide journey from January meeting sex workers, eunuchs and leprosy patients and sought their co-operation and active involvement in the ceremony.

They had started their journey from Calcutta to talk to sex workers in it’s the old cities infamous red light areas. Shri Santha at Shriramnagar in Cuttack founded Reiki Mission nearly a decade ago. The mission has since then evolved as a clinic treating ailments through Reiki — an ancient Japanese form of treatment through touch therapy. Rei combined with Ki in Japanese, means “universal life force energy”.

The mission also runs schools for the poor and the deprived.

Source: Calcutta Telegraph - Calcutta,India