Puri, Jul 20 (PTI) Thousands of devotees thronged the Gundicha Temple in Puri on Monday to witness the ‘Hera Panchami’ ritual, which symbolises the divine love and playful marital discord between Lord Jagannath and Goddess Mahalakshmi.
Observed on the fifth day of the annual Rath Yatra, the ritual centres around Goddess Mahalakshmi’s symbolic expression of displeasure after Lord Jagannath leaves for his nine-day stay at the Gundicha Temple with his siblings, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra, without taking her along.
As part of the tradition, the goddess is taken in a ceremonial palanquin procession from the Jagannath Temple to the Gundicha Temple, about 2.6 km away.
“The Goddess Lakshmi symbolically breaks a portion of Lord Jagannath’s Nandighosh chariot as he did not take her along during the Rath Yatra. It is a ritualistic expression of her anger,” said Bhaskar Mishra, a researcher on Jagannath culture.
According to tradition, the goddess enters the Gundicha Temple but is unable to meet Lord Jagannath, who is believed to be engrossed in meeting his childhood companions at his birthplace. The Gundicha Temple is regarded as the birthplace of the sibling deities.
After emerging from the temple, Goddess Mahalakshmi symbolically damages a portion of the Nandighosh chariot before returning to the main temple through a different route.
Mishra said the ritual represents divine love, longing and playful marital discord, as described in Jagannath traditions and scriptures.
He said ‘Hera Panchami’ also marks the beginning of preparations for the ‘Bahuda Yatra’, the return journey of the deities to the Jagannath Temple, scheduled for July 24.
As part of the preparations, the three chariots parked outside the Gundicha Temple are turned around to face the return route.
DIG (Central Range) Satyajit Naik said elaborate security and crowd-management arrangements were made for the ritual, with additional police personnel deployed around the Gundicha Temple. PTI AAM AAM SOM
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