Pendrani

The goddess Pendrani is a legendary deity of Umerkote, a town in Nabarangpur District in Orissa. A temple has been constructed at west end of the town in order to create a place for worshipping for the locals.^[1] Sunday is the only weekday on which the temple remains open. People from far away places visit the goddess.

Maa Pendrani of Umerkote is born out of a legend. A small village Pendra (Pendrahandi) near Umerkote worship a pure soul Pendrani, a married girl who was a victim of secret jealousy of her own brothers. As the story goes, her husband was overtly pampered by her parents who made him stay in their household with no work to bother about. The four brothers out of sheer jealousy conspired and succeeded in killing her innocent husband (Pendara) and buried him in their field. Sensing a foul play, Pendrani could unfold the heinous crime and apparently jumped into her husband’s funeral pyre and perished in its flames. Days later her spirit was believed to roam about the villages helping those who trusted her supernatural transformation. People adore her scrifice and worship in a temple erected at Umerkote. That the local degree College is named after her is a tribute to the saga of supreme sacrifice.

Her holy grace attracts many people from surrounding locations. During the time of Ratha Yatra at Umerkote, people celebrate the annual fair near the temple. People from nearby villages come and visit the celebration which includes bazaars and mandi and exchange of cultural factors among tribal and urban people.

The Goddess had been worshipped on an open citadel which gradually has been made with a normal wooden chamber. With the help of locals a newly built temple has been dedicated for worshipping the goddess with a grand inaugural celebration from 20 to 30 June 2010.

Another legend related to the origin of Maa Pendrani is as follows: Goddess pendragarhien, also known as Pendrani is worshipped by the tribal people of Western Orissa and the bordering districts of Chhattisgarh. It has a history of last 400 years. A myth of origin of Goddess Pendrani; followed by a complex ritual, is found in these areas.

The focal theme of the myth was about a Gond bride Pendrani; whose husband (bride service) was killed by her seven brothers in order to get good harvest by offering human sacrifice to Earth Mother Goddess. Pendrani, searched for her husband and finally found that her own brothers had sacrificed her bride service- husband. While wondering in the forest a tiger ate her and after that her spirit became a Goddess. Over a period of last 400 years she has transformed from a revengeful goddess into a blissful goddess. She is now worshipped as the Goddess of wealth in Western Orissa and eastern Chhattisgarh.

The purpose of the article is to explain how an ordinary woman became a Goddess and contested against the male predominance. Her creation myth became so popular that she became a popular Goddess and thus a new cult emerged as Pendrani Goddess cult. Though originated as a tribal Goddess she became the Goddess of both tribal and non tribal communities in the socio historical process of the region. The cult represented with the religious faith and belief explores that now Pendrani is one of the most popular and prestigious Goddess. A huge temple is constructed in Umerkote town, in addition to installation of her cult in thousands of villages in tribal areas. An attempt has been made in this paper to examine the socio–historical processes of the indigenous communities and the dynamics of transformation of a woman to goddess in the collective memory of the communities. The ritual performance of the celebration and adoption of the Goddess in a house or in a village is a complex ritual process that captures the socio–psychological phenomena. Male shamans use to play the role of the Goddess and the divinization of Pendrani Goddess is established.

The inference of the Pendrani cult is a contestation of male predominance over the women and the whole ritual system adopted in the cult, celebrated by the males playing the role of female goddess signifies the males subjugation to the woman Goddess, thereby compensating the injustice inflicted on Goddess Pendrani when she was an ordinary woman; before her deification.

References

↑ "UMERKOTE PENDRANI TEMPLE NABARANGPUR IN ORISSA | | eOdisha.com". eodisha.com. 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2012.

From Woman to Goddess Pendra Garhien: A Contested Discourse of Gender in Tribal Religious Cult: paper presented in SAARC Writers Conference in 2011

Hindu temples in Odisha

Bhubaneswar

Shiva temples	Aisanyesvara Siva Temple Akhadachandi Temple Astasambhu Temples Bhima Kunda Bhringesvara Siva Temple Bhrukutesvar Siva Temple Brahmeswara Temple Byamokesvara Temple Chakreshvari Siva Temple Champakesvara Siva Temple Chandrasekhara Mahadeva Temple Chintamanisvara Siva Temple Devasabha Temple Dishisvara Siva Temple Gangesvara Siva Temple Gosagaresvar Siva Temple Jaleswar Siva Temple Precinct Kalika_Siva_Temple Kapilesvara Siva Temple Kedareswar Temple Labesvara Siva Temple Ladu Baba Temple Lakhesvara Siva Temple Lingaraj Temple Madneswar Siva Temple Mangalesvara Siva Temple Manibhadresvara Temple - II Mukteswar Temple Nagesvara Temple, Bhubaneswar Pabaneswara Temple Papanasini Siva Temple Parsurameswar Temple Purvesvara Siva Temple Rajarani Temple Rameshwar Deula Sarvatresvara Siva Temple Siddhesvara Siva Temple Subarnesvara Siva Temple Suka Temple Sukutesvara Temple Svapnesvara Siva Temple Talesvara Siva Temple Tirthesvara Siva Temple Uttaresvara Siva Temple Vaital Deula Yameshwar Temple

Vishnu temples	Ananta Vasudeva Temple Bharati Matha Gandhi Garabadu Precinct Vishnu Temple Ram Mandir, Bhubaneswar Vishnu Temple, Bhubaneswar

Shakti temples	Chausathi Jogini Temple Parvati Temple, Odisha

Other temples	Brahma Temple, Bindusagar Hanuman Temple, Kedara-Gouri Sivatirtha Matha

Cuttack district

Shiva temples	Chateshwar Temple Dhabaleswar Simhanath Temple

Vishnu temples	Madhava Temple

Shakti temples	Bhattarika Temple Charchika Temple Cuttack Chandi Temple Durga Temple, Baideshwar Durga Temple, Motia

Other temples	Brahma Temple, Niali

Puri district

Shiva temples	Beleswar Temple Lokanatha Temple Markandeshwar Temple

Vishnu temples	Alarnatha Mandira Chakra Narasimha Temple Gundicha Temple Jagannath Temple, Puri Narasimha Temple, Puri Sakshigopal Temple

Shakti temples	Bata Mangala Temple Kakatpur Mangala Temple Mausi Maa Temple Ramachandi Temple Varahi Deula, Chaurasi Vimala Temple

Sun temples	Konark Sun Temple

Other temples	Govardhana matha Emar Matha

Western Odisha

Shiva temples	Kosaleswara temple Leaning Temple of Huma

Vishnu temples	Nrusinghanath Temple Patali Srikhetra

Shakti temples	Lankeswari Temple Samaleswari Temple Sureswari temple

Other temples	Harishankar Temple Sasisena Temple

Rayagada district

Shiva temples	Bhimashankar Chatikona Nilakantheswar Temple Pataleswar

Vishnu temples	Jagannath Temple, Gunupur Jagannath Temple, Rayagada Laxminarayan temple, Therubali

Shakti temples	Maa Markama Temple Majhighariani Temple

Other

Shiva temples	Ajaikapada Bhairava Temple Akhandalamani Temple Annakoteshvara Temple Bhuvaneshwar Temple, Boudh Chandaneswar Gupteswar Cave Godhaneswar temple Indralath Temple Kapilash Temple Murga Mahadeva Shrine Nilakantheswar Temple Panchalingeshwar Sekhareswar Temple

Vishnu temples	Anantasaayi Vishnu Temple Ananta Shayana Anantashayana Vishnu Baladevjew Temple Chhatia Bata Jagannath Temple, Baripada Jagannath Temple, Dharakote Jagannath Temple, Koraput Jagannath Temple, Nayagarh Khirachora Gopinatha Temple Lakhmi Varaha Temple Narayana Gosain Temple Nilamadhav Temple Odogaon Raghunath Temple Varahanatha Temple

Shakti temples	Bhadrakali Temple, Aharapada Bhagabati Temple, Banapur Biraja Temple Ghanteswari Temple Goddess Maheshwari Kalijai Kanaka Durga, Raulapalli Kichakeshwari Temple Maa Barunei Temple Maa Tarini Temple, Ghatgaon Maa Ugra Tara Maa Markama Temple Mahishamardini Temple Majhighariani Temple Manikeshwari Temple Marichi temple Mausimaa Temple Metakani Temple Narayani Temple Saptamatruka Temple Sarala Temple Siddha Bhairavi Taratarini Temple Upper Bagh Devi Temple

Sun temples	Biranchinarayan Temple, Buguda Biranchinarayan Temple, Palia

Ganesha temples	Budha Ganesha Temple Mahavinayak Temple Siddha Vinayaka

Other temples	Bhandara Ghara Shrine Hanuman Vatika Harihara Deula Joranda Gadhi

Shakti temples in Odisha
Shiva temples in Odisha
Temples in Bhubaneswar

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, February 10, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.