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Bhanjanagar: (Report- Jayakrishna Patnaik): The historic Thakurani Jatra festival is currently taking place in Bhanjanagar. This famous event brings great joy to the people of the Ganjam district. The grand celebration started on the 26th of last month. Many people from all over the region visit the town to enjoy the festivities. As part of the event, the festival committee planned special cultural programs for the evenings. 
Sudden Rain Halts Cultural Programs at Bhanjanagar Thakurani Jatra


New Stage Inauguration

On Thursday evening, the organisers opened a new open-air stage for these events. They named this stage the Kabi Samrat Muktakash Rangamancha. They set up the stage inside the old jail grounds of the local town. Famous artists and professional dance groups from all over the state will perform here. The committee planned to run these cultural shows every evening until the 20th of this month.
Many important guests attended the grand opening ceremony. Bhanjanagar MLA Pradyumna Kumar Nayak joined the event as the chief guest. Sub-Collector Uma Shankar Behera attended as the guest of honor. Other key leaders also shared the stage. These leaders included Municipality Chairman Gopabandhu Mohapatra and Block Chairman Narisabha Nayak. Jatra Committee President Rajendra Bisoyi and Working President Vishnu Charan Pradhan also attended. District Special Development Council Chairman Nilamadhava Patra, Secretary Sudhir Ranjan Behera, and Cultural Secretary Jagadish Panigrahi joined the gathering as well.

Unexpected Weather Disruption

The opening meeting was going very well. Suddenly, the weather changed without warning. Loud thunder roared in the dark sky. Heavy rain started falling on the open festival grounds. The strong storm lasted for about one and a half hours. The heavy rain caught everyone by surprise. People ran in all directions to find a safe, dry place. Because of this bad weather, the organizers stopped the program completely.

Disappointed Audience

The organizers had planned a beautiful show for this first evening. They invited talented artists to perform the famous Gotipua dance from Puri. They also scheduled well-known local singers to sing devotional Bhajans. A large crowd of eager spectators gathered early to watch these performances. Sadly, the natural disaster ruined their plans. The disappointed crowd had to return to their homes without seeing the shows.

Power Outage

The strong thunderstorm, locally known as a Kalabaisakhi, caused many problems in the region. The heavy winds and rain damaged some local property. The storm also broke the main power lines. Bhanjanagar town and the nearby villages lost their electricity. The entire area stayed in complete darkness for the whole night. Finally, the electricity supply returned to normal at 5:00 AM the next morning.