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Saktism is the worshipping of “sakti”, the centreand source for all energies in the worldrepresented through the Mother Goddess. Sakti,the mother is the primary factor,in the creation and reproductionof the universe. The ‘Sakti Cult’assumed importance sinceVedic and post-Vedic times. Asdescribed in the Vajra Tantra,Sadhanamala and RudraYamala ‘Odiyan’ (Odisha) wasa reputed centre for Saktism.The Kalika Puran furthercorroborates the view thatOdra Desh (Odisha) was oneof the celebrated Sakta Pithasof India. Sakti cult is so popularin Odisha that every village,even individual house-holdworships Devi (Sakti) as thepresiding deity. The prevalenceof Sakti cult in Odisha in some form or otherindicates its predominance in the State. Ganjam,one of the biggest districts in the State of Odishahas a very rich cultural heritage from the timeimmemorial. As evidence, the district has numberof temples, shrines, Mathas, Ashramas andspiritual centres of different religious practices andphilosophies. They are Saktas, Saivas,

Sakta Tantric Pithas of Ganjam andGoddess Bhairabi

Dr. Prafulla Ch. Mohanty

Vaishnabas, Ganapatyas etc. Throughout the year,the religious communities are performing theirrituals, Poojas on the festive occasions as per the

scheduled dates, Tithies, Lagnascreated out of the movement ofNaskhatras. Each and everycalendar month is having its’specific celebrations, startingfrom Baisakha to Chaitra. ThePoojas and Parbans are strictlyguided by the astrologicallycounted Panjikas (calendars)with Tithi, Bara and Naskhatra.Out of these calendar months,the month of Aswina whichstarts with Aswini Naskhatrafalls during the month ofSeptember or October of theChristian year is having itsimportance for Sakti Aradhana(worshipping the Mother

Goddess- Devi Durga). Ganjam has a lot of suchancient deities. The shrines have different namesof Goddesses scattered throughout the district.

The prominent Sakti Pithas of the areaare Narayani temple at Valeri mountains ofKhallikote, Devi Taratarini situated at the bankof Rushikulya near Purusottampur, Sree SidhaBhairabi at the ancient coastal port town Mantridi

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near the legend old Bahuda river, Singhasini inthe dense forest area near Polasora, Bagdevi(Byaghra Devi) of Kulad near Bhanjanagar, Barahiin the river bank of Bahuda and Maa Balakumariin the Chikiti Jamindari, Pataleswari, Banadeviand Kuthari at Dharakote, Kandhuni Devi ofSorada and Chatrapur, Kureisuni and Bankeswarithe tribal Goddesses of Surangi Mala,Ramachandi, BaliHarachandi, Ganga Devi,GangaChandi near Ganjam town. Ellamma Moti-Ellamma, Parvati Amma, Gouri Amma andHarachandi of Telugu inhabited coastal belt ofKalinga Sagar, Khambeswari of Aska,Paschimeswari, Ranaghanta Tarsing and similarother sea Goddesses like Maa Mangala are alsopresent and worshipped by the devotees. Apartfrom these, there are also Goddesses of Forts,kingly states, ports etc., worshipped separatelyby the specific tribes, kingly priests. GadaRakhyakas, Byaghra Devi, Mahuri Kalua,Manikeswari are such deities.

Ganjam is a district of villages, it is seenthat each and every village has a Gram Devati(village Goddess) temple who are worshipped andresponsible for all round security and prosperityof the villagers. Some other Sakta temples areFulakesuni, Karanjai, Shyamlai, Stambeswari,Kali, Dandakali, Dakhinakali, SataBhauni (sevenGodly sisters) Saptamatruka, Devi Poojas are alsofound in rural and semi urban areas of Aska, Hinjili,Bhanjanagar, Belaguntha, Patrapur, Mantridi,Jagannathprasad, Chikiti and in Mahuri areas. TheGoddesses are mostly manifested as Ista Devies(Goddesses of last will and wish) in the localityand their Poojas and Marjana (worshipping thedeity with Chua, Chandan, Sindoor, Dhoopa,Deepa and Naibedya) are done in a greatdevotion, emotion under strict strictures. Thedistrict has also some Baudha Tantra Matrukaspots worshipped since the Budhistera 500 B.C.and gradually now accepted as Hindu deities in

many places like Mantridi, Budhakholo, Taratarini,etc., of the district.

With this rich Saktatantric outline, thepaper tries to highlight the unique Sidha BhairabiPitha of Mantridi (Ganjam). The meaning of Pithais a Godly seat as noted in Sabda Kalpa Drumah.These Pithas of mother Goddesses are originatedfrom the corpus of Sati (Devi Parvati) whosacrificed herself in the Dakhya Jagyan and cutinto pieces by Sudarsan Chakra. There are fiftyone such Pithas and twentysix Upa-Pithas in India.A Bhairabi Pitha is at Haridwar and another at inOrissa, Mantridi in the district of Ganjam createdout of falling of Satee’s Jathara (stomach). TheSiddha Bhairabi Pitha of Mantridi is a SiddhaPitha as many sages got their salvation (siddhi)on worshipping the Goddess Bhairabi. SiddhaBhairabi temple is situated at a distance of 18 kmstowards the south east corner of Brahmapur, thebusiness city of South Orissa on the side ofHowrah-Madras N.H.-5 . The shrine remains ata distance of three kms east to the Bay of Bengalwhich was called as the Kalinga Sagar in the earlydays. Maa Bhairabi was said to be worshippedas a port deity in most of the south Indian portslike Palura, Mansurkota, Gopalpur, Sunapur,Baruva and Machhlipatnam. The 35 feet hightemple of Goddess Bhairabi stands at a lonelyplace surrounded by three funeral grounds at theoutskirt of villages Mantridi, Bayali andHaradanga. Mantridi is an ancient portal tradecentre linking India, Indonesia, China, Burma,Afghanistan etc., and brought the glory in maritimetrade for Kalinga. Anyone who wants to travelthis spot is to avail rail, bus or air route toBramhapur and from there regular buses, taxiesare available to visit the place. The scenic beautyof the area is very attractive. In the west fencethere is the sky high Kerandimala Mountains whichshelters the age old Panchamma Ganesh Pitha andmany other kingdoms like Mahuri, Chikiti,

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Jalantara, Surungi, Jarada, Tekali, etc. Thesouthern side carries the legend-old Bahuda riverof Ichapur town in A.P. covering palm, coconut,sal, saguan gardens. East invites the Golden sunrise with the roaring sound of the Bay of Bengal,silvered sand sites, stupas, kewada and casewforests. Tampara Lake is the natural link betweenBahuda- Rusikulya and Chilika. The geographyof north spells about the cities of Bramhapur,Chatrapur, Gopalpur Port, the BramhapurUniversity, the air communicating helipad station,Chilika the largest lake of Asia etc. All these spotsare very attractive from the tourist point of viewand are within a radius 20-30 kms arranged notin the form of a golden triangle but like a pearlednecklace.

Bhairabi is worshipped by a distinct kindof professional worshippers known as Malees.They are very expert in playing the conch andMahuri, the musical instruments mostly used inKalingan warfields. The deity is situated 4 feetdown to the ground level. The deity has four handswith a single leg and so perhaps named asEk Pada Bhairabi.

Goddess Bhairabi was the Goddess ofsea and famous as the presiding deity (Ista Devi)of Sadhabas who were on sea voyages from thenearby ports to different island countries like Java,Sumatra, Bali, Indonesia, etc. Still to-day theSadhabas of the area are called as Sahukaras(wealthy trader) of Sahubrahmins are doingbusiness of Patta (silk), Matha (Resam) andtextiles in name of Siddha Bhairabi. The unmarrieddaughters before their puberty of these SadhabaSahu Brahmins dressed up with variety of flowers,garlands, gold and silver ornaments, brand newsarees are worshipping and performing “NataPuja” from the day of Nata Panchami which fallsafter 4days of Aswina Amabasya. The Pujacontinue still Maha-Astami. The girls before their

puberty dress up like Parvati and pray the LordSiva at the river bank, sea coast or at the bank ofthe tank establishing a Baluka Linga for the safereturn of the voyagers and to get a very handsomehusband like Lord Siva. The speciality of NataPanchami is that Bhairabi who moves onNavaratra Puja Yatra to the nearby villagesparticularly to Mantridi Mali Sahi from AswinaAmabasya will bear the Mahisa Mardini Rupafrom the Nata Panchami. The worshipping ofBhairabi in the form of Nata Puja is nothing butthe Koumari pujan. On this Nata PanchamiGoddess Durga bears Notho and Guna, the nasalornaments. It is to kill the demon Mahisasura onthe deep night of Maha Astami. After completionof Sandhi Puja Devi Bhairabi returns to the temple.Maha-Navami is the day of rest for the Goddessand it is denied to take a Darsan but, now a daysthe rituals have been changed a little. In the templethere is no human or animal sacrifice but insteadPanchamruta is given as Bali.

It is said that Bhairabi Devi wasworshipped by the Panchu-Pandavas, the Devialso incarnated as Baudha Tantra Devi, again thelegend says the Gajapati King Purusottam Devalso worshipped the Devi during Kanchiexpedition in 15th century. A lot of true storiesare running in the locality, which reminds the livingexistence of mother goddess Maa Bhairabi. Theimage looks towards west with a slight cornerview to south, where the Paluru Mountains stands.It is known from the locality at the top of Palurhill a water filled pond and the imprints of thefootsteps of Bhairabi are seen there. Since 1982the Akhanda Naama Sankirtan is continuing afterinaugurate by the Gajapati King of Puri ‘DivyaSingh Dev’. The place increases its spiritualbeauties by encircling the goddess Bhairabi withan 84 feet high Jagannath temple along with other106 important Gods and Goddesses of Hindupantheon. It is remarkable to visit the Usha-Kothi

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Yatras of Haradanga and Bayali and mostimportant to witness the ‘Nian Yatra’ (walking onbare foot on the fire bed performed duringDasahara - Kumar Purnima) in the nearby villageBayali. The historians have a say that goddessBhairabi is the primary deity of Khudurukuni Oshaas Maa Mangala who was worshipped by thedaughter of Dhaneswar Sadhaba, Taapoi for thesafe return of her seven brothers from the voyages.

It is seemed that lakhs of people arecoming to take a Darsan of goddess Bhairabi ineach and every Samkranti, Tuesday and in thetime of Navaratra Puja. Now the importance and

fragrance of the grace of Mother Bhairabi hascrossed not only the boundaries of the State butalso the country. This is time to receive the graceof Dasha Mahavidya of Saptasati Chandi alongwith our fifth Vidya of the goddess Bhairabi. Themercies of Goddess Bhairavi are beyondexpression who is the Goddess of the wholeuniverse.

Dr. Prafulla Ch. Mohanty, Senior Reader and Principal(Retired), now residing at village; Bayali, P.O.- Mantridi,Dist. Ganjam-761008

God is one, but He has innumerable forms - Guru Nanak

His Excellency the Governor of Orissa Shri Murlidhar ChandrakantBhandare offering floral tributes at the "AMAR JAWAN JYOTI"

on 15.08.2011.