Separation Pangs Take Mahalaxmi To Gundicha Temple; Know More About Hera Panchami Ritual

Puri: Four days after the sibling deities left Jagannath Temple for Gundicha Temple, his wife Goddess Mahalaxmi has begun missing Lord Jagannath.

Unable to bear the pangs of separation, Goddess Mahalaxmi visits Gundichabadi secretly and, on still not being able to meet him, gets angry and breaks a part of Nandhighosha chariot, parked in front of the Gundicha Temple in a custom known as Hera Panchami Niti.

It will be celebrated here on Friday without public participation for the second consecutive year due to the COVID pandemic.

The sibling deities are on their annual sojourn to Gundicha, their place of birth.

THE RITUAL

According to the tradition, the representative Goddess Laxmi (known as Subarna Mahalaxmi) is carried to Gundicha temple in a beautifully decorated palanquin via Bada Danda (Grand Road) in a colourful procession. The accompanying servitors sing the Hera Panchami song expressing Goddess’s anger towards Her husband. After knowing that Goddess Mahalaxmi is coming to meet him with anger, Lord Jagannath asks his servitors to lock the door of Gundicha Temple. She feels insulted and asks her servitors to break a part of Nanigosha, the chariot of Lord Jagannath. She avoids the direct route via Grand Road and secretly returns to Jagannath Temple via Hera Gohiri Sahi.

It is also stated in Madala Panji that the Hera Panchami festival is being celebrated in a realistic manner since the time of King Kapilendra Deb when he installed a gold idol of Mahalaxmi. Prior to that, it was observed in a symbolic manner with the recitation of Vedic Mantras only.