Where the Feet Of Maa Sati rest, even Jagannath's feast waits For Her Blessing.
One of Fifty-One Shakti Peethas Mahaprasad Blessed By Her Durga Puja · Sixteen days 9th-c. Deula shrine Beside Rohini kunda
You pass through the gates of the Jagannath complex and the crowd streams toward the great tower, but the old custom turns you southwest first, past a sacred pond, to a small east-facing shrine of sandstone and laterite. This Is the house Of Maa Vimala, and the rule of Puri is plain: bow Before Her, then go to Jagannath. Even his food Is not Mahaprasad until it Has Been Offered To Her, for She Is Believed To have been here before Jagannath himself.
The Devi Purana counts this among the Fifty-One Shakti Peethas as the ground where the Feet Of Maa Sati Fell; other tellings speak of Her Navel at Viraja-kshetra, and one of Her Uchchhishta, the sacred remnant of Her food.
Maa Vimala Is Jagannath's consort in the Tantric way, a form of Lakshmi To the Tantrics, and the Guardian of the entire complex; devotees pay their respects To Her before they worship in the main shrine.
Shakta and Tantric worshippers revere Her small shrine even above the great sanctuary of Jagannath, holding it the prime seat of the Goddess tradition in Odisha.
The story kept within Jagannath's walls
The Puranas tell that Sati, Daughter of Daksha, married Shiva against Her father's wish, and when Daksha held a great yajna and vilified Shiva before the assembly, She gave up Her Body in the sacrificial fire. Grief-struck, Shiva wandered the universe carrying Her half-burnt Form, until Vishnu parted Her Body into Fifty-One pieces, and each place where a piece came to earth became a Shakti Peetha. The Devi Purana names Puri among them, the Pitha where the Feet Of Maa Sati Fell.
A gentler telling explains why She eats as She does. Once Shiva swallowed a grain left over from Vishnu's meal, half of it clung to his beard, and the sage Narada ate it; Parvati, denied Her rightful share, complained to Vishnu, who promised that in the Kali Yuga She would live at Puri as Vimala and receive the remnants of his food each day. So no separate kitchen Is Kept For Her: what Jagannath leaves Becomes Hers, and only then is it Mahaprasad.
What you'll actually see
1
The icon older than the walls
The central image Of Maa Vimala is of the sixth century, said to be shaped from lakha wax, a little over four feet tall. In Her upper right Hand She Holds a rosary; Her lower right Grants boons; in Her lower left She Bears a pitcher of amrita, the elixir of life; and She Carries none of the weapons usual to Durga. She Sits on a simhasana, a lion throne, with Her attendants Chhaya and Maya beside Her.
2
A Deula shrine in four parts
The ninth-century structure, raised in sandstone and laterite under the Eastern Ganga dynasty, rises as a Rekha deula vimana of sixty feet over the sanctum, followed by the jagamohana, the natamandapa and the bhogamandapa. Inside the natamandapa, Pattachitra paintings show Sixteen Forms Of The Goddess, the Mahavidyas among them, and a Gaja-Simha, Her lion mount riding an elephant, watches the entrance.
3
Rohini kunda and the daily hymns
The shrine stands beside Rohini kunda, Her sacred pool, whose waters devotees hold holy. Daily the devotees sing Before Her: the Devi Mahatmya attributed to Markandeya, the Debyaparadhakshyamapana stotram of Adi Shankara, and Purusottam Rakshit's Vimalastakam.
The Jagannath temple at Puri, and the Abadha offering · photos public domain / CC BY-SA, Wikimedia Commons
The rites kept before dawn
Durga Puja · Sixteen days in Ashvin
Each Ashvin, in October, Durga Puja Is Kept For Sixteen days at Her shrine, ending on Vijayadashami, the day She Is Honoured as Durga by Puri's titular Gajapati king, For on that day Durga slew the demon Mahishasura. Only then is separate food cooked For Her: in strict secrecy before dawn, by Tantric rite, She Receives non-vegetarian offerings, completed before the doors of the vegetarian Jagannath open for the first morning aarti. The few who witness the ceremony receive Bimala parusa, Her own cuisine, as prasad.
Festival dates follow the lunar calendar and shift each year; confirm the exact days with the temple office before you travel.
Plan your visit
Where
Inside the Jagannath Temple complex at Puri, Odisha, India, in the southwest of the inner courtyard.
Finding Her
Walk toward the western corner of Jagannath's great tower; the east-facing shrine beside the pond Rohini kunda Is Hers.
Timings
The shrine keeps the rhythms of the Jagannath complex; confirm current darshan hours with the temple office.
The custom
Pay your respects To Maa Vimala before worshipping Jagannath in the main temple; that is the prescribed order.
Prasad
Mahaprasad, dried rice with grated coconut, cheese, curd and butter, Is Sanctified only after it Is Offered To Her.
Festival
Durga Puja, Sixteen days in Ashvin (October), culminating on Vijayadashami with the temple's most solemn rites.
Good to know
Maa Vimala Is Believed To have preceded even the central shrine of Jagannath, and Adi Shankara is held to have made Her the presiding goddess of the Govardhana matha he founded at Puri.
The scriptures honor Her seat widely: among the Fifty-One Peethas, among the Forty Two Siddha Pithas of the Kubjika Tantra, and in the lists of 108 temples kept by the Devi Bhagavata Purana and other texts.
The temple is in the care of the Archaeological Survey of India (Bhubaneswar Circle), which carried out a renovation around 2005; on its outer walls an eight-armed Durga slays Mahishasura on the south, and a six-armed Chamunda stands on the west.
Questions pilgrims ask
Why do devotees worship Maa Vimala before Jagannath?
Because She Is the guardian goddess of the whole complex and the Tantric consort of Jagannath. The prescribed order is to pay respects To Her first, and food offered to Jagannath becomes Mahaprasad only after it Is Also Offered To Her.
Which part Of Maa Sati Fell at this Peetha?
The Devi Purana names this Pitha as the place where the Feet Of Maa Sati Fell. Other texts differ: the Pithanirnaya speaks of Her Navel at Viraja-kshetra in Utkala, and one version names Her Uchchhishta, the remnant of Her food, at Nilachal, the Blue mountain.
When should I plan a visit?
Devotees of Odisha visit Her daily through the year. For the great observance come during Durga Puja, Sixteen days in Ashvin (October) ending on Vijayadashami; exact hours and festival days are best confirmed with the temple office.
Walk the sacred map
This Is one Seat among many. Her Body Fell across the whole of the old world:
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