CHHADAKHAI in views of Harekrushna Pattanayak

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

The Buddhist Tantric concept of well-being ‘Panchatattwa’ – Madya, Mansa, Matsya, Mudra, Maithuna – was banned under Hindu fanatic concept of ‘Panchuka’, converting the last five days of ‘Karttika’, the month of Buddhist Sadhavas, to a period of penance, in order to completely extinguish the Buddhist influence over the people of Orissa. Baffling, therefore, is the orgy of fish/meat eating by the very same practitioners of penance on the day immediately following the ‘Panchuka’.

My younger brother Harekrushna Pattanayak, in one of his poems published in his compilation ‘Niraba Pratikriya’ (Silent Reaction) has come down heavily on this cultural hypocrisy. The poem is captioned – Chhadakhai Chhada. It is in Oriya language and, as the occasion is purely an Oriya one, my esteemed visitors belonging to Orissa, may peruse it.