Mythologists and scriptural experts brief Himanshu Shekhar Guru on the lineages and symbolism of shakti worship in Purushottama Kshetra or the abode of Lord Jagannath
Although Puri, the Purushottama Kshetra, is a great centre of Vaishnavism it is also a centre of Shaktism as per some historical sources, the chronology of rituals and archaeological remains. In the tantric lore, Lord Jagannath is worshipped as Bhairava and Bimala as Mahadevi. The Hindu mythological text Matsya Purana refers to Purushottama Kshetra as a Shakti Pitha due to the existence of the presiding goddess Bimala.
Bimala temple on Srimandir premises
The temple of goddess Bimala is located in the south-eastern corner of Srimandir. The goddess is also known as Shrikshetreshwari. Goddess Bimala’s idol has four hands and is made of chlorite stone, holding the ‘naga keyura’ and human figures in the upper hands and ‘kalasha’ or ‘madyapatra’ in the lower ones. Both Vaishnavite and Shakta rites are found in the rituals of the goddess. It can be ascertained that the role of Bimala is more important than that of Lakshmi, because rituals of Bimala are based on Tantra, whereas those of Lakshmi are Vaishnavite in character. The holy text Tantra Chudamani describes Bimala as Bhairavi and Jagannath as Bhairava.
Offering becomes Mahaprasad after being offered to Goddess
According to some researchers of Jagannath culture, Bimala is also called Bhairavi. Legend has it that the goddess as Bhairavi was the original occupier of the premises and Jagannath became a resident only afterwards. Bimala allowed Him entry only on one condition: She said that the ‘bhoga’ of Jagannath after being offered to Him shall be first offered to Her before anyone else, and it was on this condition that He was allowed entry into the temple.
Vimala temple one of 51 Shakti Pithas
According to Hindu legend, Sati, the daughter of Prajapati Daksha, married Lord Shiva against her father’s wishes. Later, once Daksha organised a great ‘yajna’, but intentionally did not invite Sati and Shiva. But Mata Sati could not restrain herself and despite Shiva’s stubbornness reached the ‘yajna’ site. There her father Daksha ignored Sati and criticised Shiva. Unable to bear the insult, Sati sacrificed herself in the fire. Now, Lord Shiva rushed to the site along with His associates and slew Dakshya and destroyed the yajna. The wild, grief-stricken Shiva wandered the universe with His consort’s half-burnt corpse. Seeing one of the Trinity having reached such a grave condition gods prayed to Lord Vishnu to intervene and save the universe. Finally, Vishnu dismembered Sati’s body into 52 parts with the help of Sudarshan. Each of these body parts fell on different places of the earth, each being the site of a Shakti Pitha. Though there is some controversy the popular belief is that the ‘navi’ of Sati fell on the place where Bimala pitha now stands. Vaishno Devi, Naina Devi, Kangra Devi, Chintpurni, Jwala Devi and Kalighat are some of the other Shakti Pithas of the country.
Bimala shrine among four Adi Shaktipithas
Bimala Pada khandancha, stana khandancha Tarini (Tara Tarini),
Kamakhya Yoni khandancha, Mukha khandancha Kalika (Dakhina Kalika)
Anga pratyanga sanghena, Vishnu Chakra Kshyta nacha.
As per mythical texts, the feet of Sati fell in Puri. The above hymn comes from the Asta Shakti and Kalika Purana. It says four major Shakti Pithas — Bimala (Pada Khanda inside Jagannath temple, Puri), Tara Tarini (Stana Khanda, breasts, near Berhampur), Kamakshi (Yoni Khanda, near Guwahati, Assam) and Dakhina Kalika (Mukha Khanda, Kalighat, West Bengal) originated from the limbs of the corpse of Sati.
Goddess Subhadra is Shakti
As per some sources a sculptural representation in the Bhogamandapa of Jagannath Temple depicts the figures of Jagannath, Mahishamardini Durga and Shiva on one panel. In the Draksharama temple inscription of 1216 AD, Anangabhima III is described as Purushottamaputra, Rudraputra and Durgaputra.
As learnt from Kanchipuram temple inscription, Anangabhima III by 1230 AD had dropped the epithets Rudraputra and Durgaputra and described himself as Purushottamaputra and Parama Vaishnava. Therefore, it is amply suggested that Purushottama, Rudra and Durga were considered identical with Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra respectively.
Shree Satyanarayan Pandey from Sambalpur heads a spiritual group. He clears the confusion about whether Bimala Pitha on the temple premises of Lord Jagannath in Puri or Biraja pitha in Jajpur is one of the 51 Shakti Pithas. He said, “Gods and goddesses have blessed our state generously. You can find a number of Shakti Pithas here. All the shrines where the Mother Goddess is worshipped are Shakti Pithas. All these abodes of the goddess are invested with spiritual and divine values. Yet, when it comes to the 51 Shakti Pithas described in the mythological texts, there is only one in the state of Orissa and that one is the Bimala Pitha on Srimandir premises.”
Gobind Narayan Agrawal, an advocate from Sambalpur is a mythologist and researcher. He said, “Lord Jagannath is the universal Lord. The Lord is ‘Prakruti purusha’ whose beginning and end can’t be known. (In his words nilachala niwasi prakruti purush jahara adianta nahin prakruti tote na janai kahu, janibu dehabanta bhitarb bahare ananta). Even legendary blind poet Bhima Bhoi had found ‘shakti’ in Srikshetra, which can be ascertained from his writing.”
Laxmidhar Pujari, a priest from Brahmagiri, narrated a legend which is the source of the tradition of offering the prasad of Lord Jagannath to goddess Bimala. He said, “As per a Puranic legend once on a special religious occasion Maharshi Narada wanted a glimpse of Lord Vishnu and His consort Mahalakshmi. Lord Vishnu offered him prasad which Narada enjoyed and felt immensely blessed and gratified. Then he left Vaikuntha and moved across the sky singing the name of Lord Narayana. Lord Shiva was seated then in Kailash deep in meditation. Narada’s happy mood was enough to bring out Lord Shiva from his ‘dhyana’ or spiritual repose. The Lord asked Narada about the reason of his happiness and started to crave for Kaibalya, the offering Narada has had. Lord Shiva requested Narada to give him some prasad but Narada had consumed the whole offering given to him. The Lord was not prepared to leave Narada. He noticed at a corner of Naradaji’s mouth a morsel of Kaibalya. The Lord took it and consumed with utmost satisfaction and started doing tandava with joy when Parvati entered. Now, the Goddess also craved for the offering. But noting was left and thus She prayed to Lord Vishnu. Gratified with Her devotion, Lord Vishnu appeared and offered Her Kaibalya and blessed Her saying that in Kaliyuga He would make His appearance in Daru form in Nilachal Dham by the side of sea in Udradesha. There, he would be offered prasad in the form of rice. Parvati would have the most sacred privilege of being worshipped in His Temple in the name of Bimala and partake of his prasad as a customary practice. The prasad would be known as Mahaprasad.
Dhananjaya Mishra from Lathore in Bolangir district is a voracious reader of mythological texts. About the worship of shakti in Purosottama Kshetra he said, “There are three things like Yantra, Mantra and Tantra to please the God. The yantra of Purushottama consists of an eight-petalled lotus with the bija mantra in the centre. In Srikshetra eight shaktis of Lord Vishnu namely Bimala, Utkarshini, Yajna, Kriya, Yoga, Prthvi, Satya and Ishana are worshipped along with Lord Jagannath. Bimala is one of the eight chandis of Purushottama Kshetra. In the traditional rites, Vimala is worshiped as the Maya shakti of Lord Jagannath, Kriya shakti of Balabhadra and Iccha shakti of Subhadra.”