Maa Hingula Jatra, Balaram Prasad, Talcher Angul ହିଙ୍ଗୁଳା ଯାତ୍ରା

MAA HINGULA JATRA - According to Sarala Das writtened Mahabharat Maa Goddess Hingula is relates to cooking food. It is described in the Mahabharat that Goddess Hingula was worshiped by King Nala of Surya Vanshi. It is by her grace that king Nala was able to prepare Gouri-Sauri Paka. Thus the name of Goddess Hingula is associated with cooking with perfection. The successors of king Nala of Vidarbha also worshiped the Goddess Hingula. As Nala was the King of Vidarbha, his successors are worshiping Goddess Hingula from generation to generation.                 There is a legend that not only explains why the peetha of the deity  is situated at  Gopalprasad Gada but also links with the daily-rites of Lord Jagannath at Puri.0                 According to the legend, when queen Gundicha thought of introducing Sixty pauties of Bhojan (daily offerings) for the Lord Jagannath and sought the permission of the Lord . The King was  ordered in dream to worship Goddess Hingula for the smooth conduct of cooking. It is for this purpose, the king went to Bidarbha and with the help of Nala tried to bring the Goddess to Puri. King Nala brought the Goddess Hingula in his upper garment, where the Goddess herself in the form of fire. But a marvel took place when the King Gajapati and  Nala were taking rest near the Bank of the river Singhada at Gopal Prasad Gada, the Goddess disappeared and a voice from the void announced Gopal Prasad Gada to be the holy place (Puja Peeth) of Goddess Hingula. The voice also declared that her two associates Kuteisuni and Karadei will also be worshiped here. However the place of action of Goddess Hingula will be the kitchen of Shree Mandir at Puri. From this date the Hingula Peeth remains at Gopal Prasad Gada and before the Sixty Pautis Bhoga for Shree Jagannath is prepared at Shree Mandir a sacrifice is offered to Goddess Hingula before the fire is lit to the oven in the Kitchen. It needs special mention that Goddess Hingula has no other form except fire and she is linked with the Agni Kona (South East direction). The main worship of Mother Hingula being conducted on the day of Bishnu Damank Chaturdashi, which falls on the fourteenth day of the bright phase on the moon in the month of chaitra. A special worship is offered to the Goddess on every thursday of the month of Chitra. An auspicious day is choosen on the basis of the star and zodiac position of the Goddess before seven days of the festivals and on the same day the Goddess is worshiped on the pendal of the deity "Kuteisuni". The worship is called "Jantal Puja" . It is believed that the deity worshiped enters in to the body of the patiara after the performance of Puja which is known as Sodasaupachara (Sixteen rituals). The mother Goddess indicates the direction of her appearance by entering the body of the patiara and the tradition says that the Goddess generally appears from the eastern or the western direction of the Peetha. Dehury, the traditional worshipper of Goddess goes to find out the place of appearance of the Goddess in the midnight of the same day. Since the Goddess is seen the form of fire and moves at many places and moves from one place to the other, Dehury worships the Goddess by chanting `Sabari Mantra' and pacifies her by making a fire on the Charapthar (char/coal). Every day more coal is added to the main fire of the Goddess during the time of worship by which the girth of the Goddess increases to the very big dimension on the final day of the festival. A kandha tribal fixes the appliqué presented by the king of Talcher by tying it to four bamboos. This appliqué has a height measuring sixteen hands from the place of appearance of the deity. A specialty of the occasion is the intimate relationship between the Goddess and her worshipers, who offer themselves a lot of things which are consumable by fire like juggery,ghee, honey,variegated silk, Sarees, jute, incense sticks, special sweets made of Til (Rasi Ladu), Bananas, Coconuts and many other sweets like Kushi Gaja, Gaja Muan, Khandsari etc, directly without any intermediary worshipper. Moreover there is absolutely no distinction between the upper and lower caste. Who unhesitating by snatch away and take prasad from one another. The caste differences are drowned during this worship. Thousands of devotees assemble here seeking the blessing of the Goddess and offer many scarifies. In the morning the hairs from the heads of the babies are shaved. In the afternoon Alam, the mobile image of the Goddess arrives at the big pendal from the temple for worship, in a procession accompanied by the devotees and the traditional instrumentalists and drum beaters, who carry umbrellas, Taras Adenis, Cymbals, Conches, Chowries,etc. The procession is also accompanied with the devotional songs and Kirtans, presenting a a delightful sight. It may be mentioned here that the Goddess has servants of thirty six types named Chhatisa Pataka Niyoga, similar to that of  Lord Jagannath .