Vimala Temple, Puri – Worship & Food Offerings

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.