As per an age-old practice, more than 30,000 babies tonsured their heads during the day through ‘Mundan’ and offered hairs seeking the blessings of the mother Goddesses for a blissful life. The third Tuesday, considered the holiest in the annual calendar of events of the shrine, began with the chanting of traditional Mantras on the midnight of Monday. The priests performed the rituals of Snana, Majana and Maha Arati of the goddesses before the sanctum sanctorum of the shrine was thrown open for the devotees at 3 am in the morning. Thousands of devotees were seen standing in long queues on the hilltop to have an early darshan of the Maa.
Devotees participated in the Chaitra Mela which is one of the biggest religious fairs in the country. On the occasion, more than 20,000 groups were seen cooking in the surrounding locations and had a day of picnic at the shrine. Khichdi Prasad of Maa Tara Tarini besides safe drinking water was distributed to the devotees. Heavy police deployment was made by the administration to avert any untoward incident. The district administration also made arrangements to control traffic in and around the shrine. Police beat houses and temporary health centers were set up near the foot hill bus stop and at the Lions’ Gate of the shrine. Several special buses and rope way cars were pressed into service to help the devotees reach the hill top.
The Pioneer -http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/5-lakh-throng-tara-tarini-shrine-for-chaitra-mela.html
Lakhs throng Tara Tarini Shakti Peetha on Third Tuesday of Chaitra Yatra
Report by Odisha Diary bureau, Berhampur: The Third Tuesday of the Hindu month of Chaitra which fell on 24 March, 2015 saw huge gathering of devotees at Maa Tara Tarini Hill Shrine near Berhampur city in Odisha. More than five lakh devotees thronged from various parts of the country and abroad to this Shakti Peetha, which is believed to be the Stana Peetha (Breast Shrine) of Adi Shakti.
- See more at: http://www.orissadiary.com/CurrentNews.asp?id=58267#sthash.Yk2P6TN4.dpuf
Berhampur : 27/March/2015
More than five lakh devotees thronged from various parts of the country and abroad to this Shakti Peetha, which is believed to be the Stana Peetha (Breast Shrine) of Adi Shakti-Maa TaraTarini Shrine on 24 March.....................................................
-http://www.tathya.in/new/story.aspx?args=5040BEBB60AE3EF8EC10F4B0F6EFEF68A7004730DE8DE638