Goddess Kali Puja Cuttack 2013
Unlike the famous Durga Puja or Dussehra Festival, the silver city of Odisha “Cuttack” is also known for the Goddess Kali Puja. Just a fortnight after Durga Puja, people across the city gears up for Kali Puja and Diwali celebrations. People celebrate this occasion with fervour and gaiety.
This year the cyclone Philin ruined all the fun of Durga Puja, so the katkis (People of Cuttack) has eagerly waited for the eve. In the millennium city Cuttack, around 65 mandaps will be erected worshipping the dark-coloured deity with a garland of human skulls, tongue piercing out and stepping on a lying Lord Shiva.
Kali Puja in Cuttack city is believed to have started much before the concept of Durga Puja. It is believed that this puja started in the city about 500 years ago and the concept of idol worshipping started when Bengali’s brought this tradition to Odisha/Orissa during the 16th century. Among all the idols in Cuttack, the Goddess worshiped at Bakhrabad area is unique .
It is called “Chhinamasta” or headless Goddess who chopped her head. The idol here holds her severed head on one hand while three streams of blood roll out of her neck. While one stream goes down to her mouth in the severed head other two goes down to the mouths of her two associates. Instead of stepping on the lying Shiva, the Goddess steps over an embracing man and woman on a lotus. But nobody knows for sure how Chhinnamastika form of worship began at Bakhrabad.
While almost all the Puja mandaps celebrating Durga Puja, Celebrates Kali Puja. But Bakhrabad is the only place where only Kali Puja is being celebrated.
Also Read: Happy and Safe Diwali
