BERHAMPUR: Laxmi Puja festivities are incomplete without a bout of gambling in Southern Orissa districts. Night-long gambling is more like a ritual encouraged even by parents.
While Mahalaxmi is worshipped during the day, gambling dominates the festivities at night. Regardless of changes in fortune, people of these districts have an inexplicable urge to try their luck in the number's game.
Prakash Chandra Panda, a businessman in Gate Bazaar of Berhampur,says, "Even parents encourage their children to gamble on Kumar Purnima day which coincides with Laxmi Puja. They provide them with money to gamble."
Many believe Mahalaxmi can be invoked only through gambling. Interestingly, people go for gambling wearing new clothes.
Gambling goes on for several days in most villages during the festival of Kumar Purnima, observed five days after Dussehra. Often, it begins during the run-up to Dussehra and continues till Diwali. The police turn a blind eye to these activities. "It's a social and traditional occasion taking place in homes and so the police take a liberal stance," said a senior police officer. "Organised gambling in public places, however, will not be tolerated," said S P (Berhampur) R K Sharma.
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