Unique immersion ceremony in Bhadrak district

The immersion of Goddess Durga is performed in a different manner at a nondescript village in Odisha's Bhadrak district where a man is immersed in water body instead of the idol of Durga.
This unique immersion was performed at Shyampur at the end of the five day Durga puja celebration. Shyampur village witness this kind of Durga immersion since generations.
Here not the Goddess but a human being is being immersed. This immersion function is called as "Kalas yatra" and it is carried out since time immemorial.
In Shyampur Durga puja the Goddess Durga is made of nine metals. And it is being kept in a room in another village and brought to Shyampur puja mandap a week before the five

day Durga puja celebration.
The puja is being observed as per the rituals followed in other puja mandaps. However the immersion ritual is totally different.

One Narayan Sahu of Shyampur village is immersed in Balipokhari pond of Dakhinabadi near Shyampur village.
"My fore fathers were also being subjected to this practice and now I am happy to be part of it," said Sahu.
Kalash yatra, the unique form of Durga immersion is a 1300- year old tradition of the village, said Niranjan Mohapatra, a villager.
"Narayan is taken to the puja mandap in a procession where the priest chant mantras. There Narayan is being treated as Durga and rituals of immersion is carried out. Then Narayan is taken to Balipokhari for immersion with a procession," villagers said.

However, Narayan comes out of the pond after some minutes and becomes a normal man. For people, the spirit of Durga is immersed in the process.