Vimala Temple, Puri – Religious Significance
Sakthi
Peetha inside Vishnu Shrine:
The Vimala Temple is considered one of the Shakti
Pithas, the most sacred temples of the Hindu Goddess, identified
with Parvati or Durga. It is
considered to be a prime example of the importance of the Shakti cult in
Odisha. It is customary to worship the god Shiva (Parvati's
consort) at each Shakti Pitha in the form of Bhairava,
the male counterpart or guardian of the presiding goddess of the Shakti Pitha. In
Goddess-oriented worship, Vimala (Bimala) is regarded as the presiding goddess
of the Purushottama (Puri) Shakti Pitha. Jagannath,
a form of the god Vishnu / Krishna (Krishna
is generally regarded as an avatar of Vishnu), is worshipped as the Pitha's
Bhairava.
This is a departure from the usual tradition of Bhairava
as a form of Shiva. So, in this temple complex, Vishnu–one of the
Hindu trinity–is equated with Shiva, another of the trinity; this is
interpreted to convey the oneness of God. In this regard, Vimala - generally
associated with Shiva's consort - is also considered as Lakshmi,
the consort of Vishnu. Conversely, Tantrics
consider Jagannath as Shiva-Bhairava, rather than a form of Vishnu.
The main sanctum of the Jagannath
Temple has three deities: Jagannath, Balabhadra (elder
brother of Krishna, sometimes identified with Shiva) and Subhadra (the
younger sister of Krishna and Balabhadra). In Jagannath-centric traditions,
while Lakshmi is
the orthodox consort of Jagannath in the temple complex, Vimala is the Tantric
(heterodox) consort and guardian goddess of the temple complex. Vimala is
identified with the goddesses Katyayini,
Durga, Bhairavi, Bhuvaneshvari and Ekanamsha in
various texts and rituals.
She is considered the shakti of
Vishnu as well as Shiva in the climactic Durga Puja festivities in the
temple. She appears as Mahishasuramardhini (Durga as slayer
of the demon Mahishasura) or Vijayalakshmi (the
warrior form of Lakshmi) in New Delhi Konark stele, 13th century
stone stele originally
from Konark Sun Temple and now housed
in National Museum, New Delhi.
Adi
Shakti Peethas
Religious texts like the Shiva
Purana, the Devi Bhagavata, the Kalika
Purana, the Astha Shakti and Pithanirnaya Tantra recognize
four major Shakti Peethas (centers), like Bimala (Pada
Khanda) (inside the Jagannath Temple of Puri, Odisha),
Tara Tarini (Sthana Khanda, Purnagiri, Breasts) (Near Berhampur, Odisha), Kamakhya
Temple (Yoni Khanda) (Near Guwahati, Assam) and Dakshina Kalika
(Mukha Khanda) (Kolkata, West
Bengal) originated from the parts of the corpse of Mata Sati in the
Satya Yuga.
References
in Purana:
The list of Shakti Pithas differ in various religious
texts. Many mention Vimala or Jagannath temple complex as a Shakti Pitha and
calls the location by various names. In the Kalika
Purana, four Pithas (centers of Tantrism)
are mentioned, corresponding to the four cardinal directions. The Oddiyana or
Uddiyana (now clearly identified as Odisha) in the west hosts the temple of
Katyayini (identified with Vimala) and her consort Jagannath. The Hevajara
Tantra, which has a similar list, also mentions Katyayini as the Bhairavi and
Jagannath as the Bhairava in the Pitha of Udra (Odra, identified with Odisha).
The Pithanirnaya or Mahapithanirupana section
from the Tantrachudamani mentions Viraja-kshetra in Utkala (present-day Odisha)
as a Shakti Pitha, with Vimala as the presiding goddess (Devi), Jagannath as
Bhairava and her navel as the body part that fell here. One version of this
text, however, demotes the site from a Pitha to an upa-Pitha (subordinate
Pitha). Here, the Uchchhishta (i.e. left-over or partially eaten food)
of Sati is said to be the "fallen part" ( anga-pratyanga) and
the temple location is called Nilachal or "Blue mountain", which is
the traditional name of the site of the Jagannath temple complex. Nilachal
or Nila Parvat is mentioned as an upa-pitha also in the Shiva-Charita with
Vimala and Jagannath as the Devi and Bhairava respectively.
The Tantric work Kubjika Tantra names Vimala
among 42 Siddha Pithas, where Siddhis
- a set of supernatural powers - can be gained. The Devi Bhagavata Purana, Prana Toshini
Tantra and Brihan Nila Tantra name the Vimala temple as a Pitha
in their list of 108 temples. The Matsya
Purana mentions Purushottama Kshetra with goddess Vimala as a Shakti
Pitha. The Vamana Purana notes it as a sacred
pilgrimage site. The Mahapitha Nirupanam also mentions Vimala and
Jagannath as deities of the Pitha. In the Namasttotra Sata, a Puranic list
of 100 mother goddesses, Vimala of Purushottama is named. The Devi
Purana also mentions it as a Pitha where feet of Sati fell.
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