Shibani Behera

Bhubaneswar, April 21(LocalWire): Devout Christians here celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ by praying at the Easter mass today morning.

Thousands of Christians gathered at churches across the state, prayed and sang hymns to mark the occasion.

After 40-day period of Lent, Easter festivities begin with Palm Sunday a week before Easter Sunday.

Christians are busy with rituals and festivities associated with the Holy Week, also known as Passion Week, ending with Easter morning mass today.

In Berhampur, thousands of Catholics assembled at Believers Eastern Church on Easter Vigil, celebrated during anytime between sunset on Holy Saturday and sunrise on Easter morning.

On account of the heat, some churches began their Easter mass early in the morning and by sunrise people returned to their homes. Mostly, Easter service ends with the priest offering a piece of cake or at some churches, a teaspoon of wine.

‘After Good Friday we cannot wait for Easter to arrive.

It brings with it hope, joy and gives mankind another chance to live and we are celebrating it with much pomp by organizing get togethers and lunch,’ said Suman , a resident of Berhampur.

These days Easter is celebrated even by people from other faiths what with Easter bunnies and Easter eggs catching everyone’s fancy.

‘That’s the beauty of Easter, today I saw not only Christians but also people of other religions in church celebrating and enjoying Easter,’ Adil, a resident of Bolangir said.

LocalWire

Bhubaneswar, April 13 (LocalWire): Plastic bags have become an indispensable part of our lives in a very short span. What began as a boon for mankind has turned into a bane for the environment.

Plastics cause real, tangible harm to the environment. To curb the use of plastic, the district collector of Chhota Udaipur, Gujarat, came up with the idea of encouraging the forest department and other nurseries to use coconuts to nurse their seedlings.

In coastal areas of Odisha like Puri we find coconut shells in abundance but they are not put to any use and get decomposed by simply lying around.

‘Coconut shells are environment-friendly, can be re-used and will also reduce the cost of buying plastics that many a times hamper the growth of plants. I think if this initiative is taken up, it will help people like me a lot,’ said Raghu, a local nursery owner here.

‘While traveling to Puri I see a lot of coconut shells being wasted. Finally, it will be beautiful to see them being used in such a productive way,’ says Devi, a resident of Bhubaneswar.

We can urge the government and the forest department to make people aware towards an environment free of plastic, she added.

Localwire