The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c17.s1.299

v2.c17.s1.299

7. *Candana Yātrā.* The same festival which has been described on page [79]. It is the counterpart of the *Florialia* of the Romans and of the *Maypole* of modern Europe. It is a *festi* of flowers. Flowers are scattered everywhere; flowers are pelted at neighbours and friends; and swings, fans and ornaments are made of flowers and scented with sandal-paste. The heat of the weather at the time is against its being celebrated in a boisterous way and therefore no great enthusiasm is evinced on the occasion. At Puri, as at Bhuvanes'vara, the festival is celebrated by proxies, the proxies being Madanamohana and four small *liṅgams*, and the locale the Narendra Tank. There is a small island in the middle of that tank and a temple on it, where the proxies are accommodated for 21 days, from the 3rd of the waxing moon in Bais'ākha and every afternoon and night taken out and cruised about, Madanamohana in one boat, and the *liṅgams* in another, amidst a profusion of flowers, dances, singing, music and a great concourse of people.