Vimala Temple, Puri – Worship & Food Offerings
Worship:
The people of Odisha take pride in the Vimala temple.
Devotees visit the temple religiously every day and recite hymns from the Devi
Mahatmya, attributed to the sage Markandeya, Debyaparadhakshyamapana stotram by
Adi Shankara and Vimalastakam composed by Purusottam Rakshit. It is
prescribed that devotees pay their respects to the goddess Vimala before
worshipping Jagannath in the main temple. The waters of Rohini kunda,
the Tirtha (sacred pool) of Vimala, are also considered holy. Tantrics
often visit the temple, which they consider more important than the central
Jagannath shrine. The Goddess-oriented festival of Durga
Puja in the Hindu
month of Ashvin (October) is celebrated for sixteen
days, culminating with Vijayadashami.
On Vijayadashami, Vimala is worshipped by the
titular Gajapati king of Puri as the
goddess Durga,
who is believed to have slain the demon Mahishasura on this day. The earliest
record of this is the New Delhi Konark stele, which narrate that
King Narasimhadeva I (reign: 1238–1264)
worshipped Durga-Madhava (Vimala-Jagannath) on the tenth day of Durga
Puja, i.e., Vijayadashami. As the goddess is believed to assume a
destructive aspect during the Durga Puja, women are debarred in the temple as
they are considered too "weak-hearted" to witness this terrible form
of the goddess.
Food Offerings:
Generally, no separate food offerings are cooked for the
goddess Vimala. The goddess is described to survive on the remnants (Uchchhishta)
of Jagannath's meals. The vegetarian food offerings to Jagannath are
offered to Vimala, after which they are sanctified as Mahaprasad. The Mahaprasad
consists of dried rice mixed with grated coconut, cheese, curd and butter. The Shankaracharya,
head of the Govardhana matha, receives a pot of the mahaprasad and a plate
of khichdi that
is offered to the goddess, the presiding goddess (Adya-shakti) of the matha as
well as of the temple.
The legend narrates the tale behind the tradition of
offering the Uchchhishta, which otherwise is a taboo in Hinduism. Once, Shiva
on a visit to Vishnu's abode Vaikuntha,
saw that a few food grains (Uchchhishta) had fallen on the ground after Vishnu
finished his meal. Lord Shiva quickly picked up a grain and swallowed it.
Unbeknownst to him, half of it stuck to his beard. When he returned to his
abode, the sage Narada saw the half grain on Shiva's
beard, and ate it. Parvati, Shiva's consort, was upset that her rightful share
of Vishnu's prasad had been eaten by Narada. In a peeved mood, she went to
Vishnu and complained.
Vishnu pacified her saying that in the Kali Yuga (the
present era as per Hindu beliefs), she would live at Puri as Vimala, and would
daily eat the remnants of his food. The only time in the year when separate
food is cooked for the goddess is when she is offered non-vegetarian offerings.
During Durga Puja, Vimala is offered non-vegetarian
food and animal sacrifice, traditionally offered to the Hindu Mother Goddess.
The goddess is considered to assume a destructive form during the festival and
the meat is considered necessary to placate her.
In strict secrecy during the pre-dawn hours, animal
sacrifice of a male goat is offered in the temple, while fish from the sacred
Markandeya temple tank are cooked and offered to Vimala, as per Tantric
rituals. The rituals have to be completed before the doors of the main sanctum
of the vegetarian Jagannath are opened at dawn and the first morning aarti is
offered to the god. Vaishnava devotees of Jagannath are
debarred from the temple. Only a few who witness the ceremony are given
the Bimala parusa (Vimala's cuisine) as prasad. The animal sacrifice
and the non-vegetarian offerings to Vimala produced protests.
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