The social significance of this festival is that the first-borns are brighter and it is ultimately they who take up the burden of the family after the death of the parents. According to psychologists, the first-borns are mostly healthy, obedient and tradition-bound. Therefore, the family tradition is m intained through them. For such obvious reasons the eldest child is honoured to occupy the respectable place in the family and it is he who maintains the heredity.
On this occasion the eldest child of the family is honoured. He or she is given new clothes and is made to sit on a wooden pedestal (Pidha). In front of him/her an earthen pot full of water (Purna Kumbha) is placed on handfuls of paddy. Above it a branch of mango leaves and a coconut is placed. A special variety of cake (pitha) called ‘Enduri’ is prepared during this occasion. The mother or any other elderly lady wishes him /her long-life and good health by praying Sathi Debi, the Goddess who protects children from all kinds of evils. Before the first-borns get honoured, the mother and all other elderly women of the family offer all the prepared cuisine (Pitha and Khiri) to Sathi Devi first. Then they light the lamp (Arati with Deepa) before the Goddess. Followed by this the first-borns get honoured.
The festival is an important occasion at the Lingaraj Temple in Bhubaneswar. Here the festival is observed with great devotion. Here the deity of Lingaraj is taken out in a palanquin to a tank called "Papanasini" in the temple complex.
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