Koraput: Here is a unique temple where Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati are not worshipped as consorts, but as siblings. Since ages, residents of Girligumma panchayat under Dasamanthpur block in Koraput district have been worshiping Lord Shiva and his wife as brother and sister in this temple, unknowingly making the temple unique.
Because of this tradition, the temple has earned the moniker of ‘Bhai-Bhauni’ (brother-sister) temple in the locality.
Devotees believe that wishes come true if the deities are worshipped with utmost devotion here. Particularly, childless couples are blessed with children after they offer prayers in this shrine.
While most of the devotees from urban areas worship the deities with coconuts and bananas, tribals often appease the lords with different kinds of forest grown fruits and flowers.
Manmath Jani and Padmalochan Bisoi are the two priests who perform all rituals here.
Legend has it that at one of time, the temple was a large one. However, at one point, lightning struck the temple pulling it down to the ground. The deities are being worshipped in this small temple ever since. Inside the sanctum sanctorum of this temple, stones resembling smaller size of ‘Shiva Ling’ are being worshipped alongside Shiva-Parvati idols.
According to the priests of the temple, Shiva and Parvati were siblings who used to stay with their parents in a cave. It was when Shiva and Parvati expressed their desire to live as a couple; their father asked them to leave the cave and directed them to go to the place where the present temple exists. Bana durga was there in the middle of this separated family and used to protect them. A partially-destroyed stone-craved idol of Bana Durga, being worshipped by the roadside, is testimony to this interesting legend.
According to culture researcher Paresh Rath, the famous Dusherra festival has a connection with the Bana Durga at Girligumma.
He says, “There used to be gigantic drum with Bana Durga. The drum when played would produce a sound which could easily be heard by the then king from the top of the dome of Jeypore palace. Only after hearing this sound, preparations for the puja in the palace would start.
With the king and his rule coming to an end, all the memories associated with the Bana Durga shrine have remained to be legends only.
Rath, historians and senior citizens observed, “If a research is carried out on the idols and the facts associated with them, the legend and its veracity can come to the fore and at the same time the shrine can get its due share of recognition. The shrine can also be protected.”
PNN