Shitalasasthi (also known as Sital sasthi) is a significant festival that celebrates the wedding of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati.
[2][3] The festival is a vibrant carnival, featuring participation from people and artists from various walks of life, which enhances its beauty and brings out the true spirit of celebration.
Shitalasasthi is observed annually towards the end of the summer season, on the sixth day of the bright fortnight of the month of Jyestha.
[3] According to the legend, when the demon Tarakasura[4] was wreaking havoc across the three realms—Svarga (heaven), Martiya (earth), and Patala (underworld)—the gods approached Lord Vishnu for a solution.
Responding to the plea of the gods, Shakti reincarnated as Sati (Parvati), the daughter of the mountain king Himalaya, and grew into a beautiful young woman.
Disguised in this form, he remarked, "O Parvati, you are young and beautiful, why would you choose to marry an old man who dwells in the smasana (graveyard), wears tree bark, and adorns himself with snakes?
To fulfill his religious goals, King Ajit Singh invited several Utkal Srotriya Vaidik Brahmin families from Puri to settle in Sambalpur.
Daxina Ray suggested that the king contribute generously to the temples dedicated to the Asta Sambhu[6] (eight forms of Shiva) in the region.
Following this, Ajit Singh established seven additional temples dedicated to the Sambhus: Kedarnath in Ambabhona, Viswanatha in Deogaon, Balunkeshwar in Gaisama, Mandhata in Maneswar, Swapneshwar in Sorna, Bisweshwara in Soranda, and Nilakantheswar in Nilji.
The Utkal Brahmins established their Ista Dev (personal deity), Lord Balunkeswar, at Balibandha, Sambalpur, and were the first to initiate the Sitalsasti Jatra under royal patronage.
Later, the Aranyaka Brahmins, who primarily worship Lord Jagannath and follow the Vaishnava tradition, established the Loknath temple at Jhaduapada.
King Ajit Singh patronized the Sitalsasthi Jatra/Yatra, which commemorates the marriage of Hara (Shiva) and Parvati at Sambalpur on the Jyestha Sukla Paksha Panchami.
During the Sitalsasthi Jatra, a designated family assumes the role of Parvati’s parents and ceremonially offers her hand in marriage to Shiva.
The idols of Shiva and Parvati are placed in an elaborately decorated palanquin, and the designated family members perform the Kanyadana (ceremonial offering of the bride).