Hansa boita

Odisha's ‘Boita Bandana’ (Worship of the Boats) festival commemorates the voyage of the Sadhabas - an ancient community of affluent mariner merchants, who would set sail to faraway lands for trade and cultural exchange. Their boats carried precious cargo, yielding their principal source of income. These boitas came to embody prosperity, and were revered in worship. Women from the families of travelling sailors would perform rituals to ensure their safe passage. The vessels were said to glide like swans across the seas in oral tradition and folklore, leading to their literal representation as such. 

Today, the festival is observed on the full moon of Kartik Purnima with the symbolic floating of decorated miniature boats, carrying offerings of betel leaves and nuts. A prayer is chanted in remembrance and celebration of the brave Sadhabas:

Ā kā mā bai: “Oh, Mother Boat!”; thought to be a mnemonic representing four months of the Hindu calendar, considered the most favourable for sailing (Aṣadha, Kartika, Magha, Baisakha)

Pāna guā thoi, pāna guā tora: "Yours are the betel leaf and betel nut I place here"

Māsaka dharama mora: “Mine are the prayers dedicated to you for the month”