Kartika Purnima, the full moon of the holiest month of the Odia year, is the day of Boita Bandana. Before dawn people go down to rivers, tanks and the sea and set afloat small boats made of banana stem, cork or coloured paper, each carrying a lamp, betel leaf and nut. They are the ships of the sadhabas, the merchants of ancient Kalinga, who sailed on this day for Bali, Java, Sumatra and Sri Lanka. In Cuttack the Bali Jatra fair begins.
The story
For centuries Kalinga traded across the Bay of Bengal. The ships left with the retreating monsoon in Kartika, when the wind turned to the north-east, and came home with the next. Women saw them off from the shore with lamps and a prayer; the festival is that send-off, kept up long after the voyages ended.
The story told with it is Taapoi's: the youngest sister of seven merchant brothers, ill-treated by their wives while the brothers were at sea, who prayed to the goddess Mangala and was avenged on their return.
ଆ କା ମା ବୈ, ପାନ ଗୁଆ ଥୋଇ, ପାନ ଗୁଆ ତୋର, ମାସକ ଧରମ ମୋର
A, Ka, Ma, Bai: here are betel leaf and nut. The betel is yours; the merit of the month is mine
Said as the boat is set afloat; the syllables stand for the four months of the sailing season
How the morning goes
- Kartika brataThrough the month many, widows especially, eat one meal a day without fish or meat; the last five days, Panchuka, are kept by nearly everyone.
- Floating the boatsAt first light, with the verse called out.
- Chhada khaiThe day after, fish and meat are eaten again with relish.
- Bali JatraA week-long fair on the Mahanadi sandbank at Cuttack, with hundreds of thousands a night.
- Rasa PurnimaThe same night closes Krishna's Rasa Lila.
Why this date
Kartika Purnima is the full-moon tithi of Kartika, on the day it is present at sunrise; the boats are floated that dawn.
Kartika Purnima and Boita Bandana in other years
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Wednesday | |
| 2026 | Tuesday | |
| 2027 | Sunday | |
| 2028 | Thursday | |
| 2029 | Wednesday | |
| 2030 | Sunday |
More Odia festivals
8 NovemberDiwaliଦୀପାବଳି
20 OctoberDasaharaଦଶହରା
15 January 2027Makar Sankrantiମକର ସଂକ୍ରାନ୍ତି
11 February 2027Saraswati Pujaସରସ୍ୱତୀ ପୂଜା
19 OctoberMaha Navamiମହାନବମୀ
13 February 2027Ratha Saptamiରଥ ସପ୍ତମୀ
Where to see Kartika Purnima and Boita Bandana
In Odisha
- Bali Jatra ground, CuttackOdishaOn the Mahanadi below Barabati fort, where the ships are said to have set out.
- Bindusagar, BhubaneswarOdishaThe old city's tank, bright with boats at dawn.
- ParadipOdishaThe modern port holds a Kalinga Bali Jatra of its own on the seafront.
- PuriOdishaBoats are floated in the sea and the temple tanks; the gods wear the Rajarajeswara Besha.
Across India
- VaranasiUttar PradeshDev Deepawali, with every ghat on the Ganga lit.
- PushkarRajasthanThe camel fair ends with a bath in the lake.
- AmritsarPunjabGuru Nanak Jayanti at the Golden Temple, lit through the night.