The Aunt's offering!
The Ardhashini temple is situated on the Grand Road (Bada Danda) in Puri, roughly midway between the Jagannath Temple and the Gundicha Temple.Ardhasini is the name of the goddess, believed to have saved Puri from floods by drinking half the seawater.The temple is believed to be guarded by Goddess Ardhasini and Kapalmochana Shiva.
Locals believe that the Goddess, along with Kapalmochana Shiva, act as the guardians of Puri.During the Bahuda festival,on their way back, the chariot of Lord Jagannath stops at the Mausi Maa temple and Jagannath happily accepts the 'Poda Pitha' offering from his aunt.This tradition is yet another link with Jagannatha's tribal beginning.Lord Jagannath's origins are deeply intertwined with tribal culture, particularly the Sabara tribe.
Legends say the deity was initially worshipped as Nilamadhaba by the Sabara chief Viswavasu, and later assimilated into the Hindu pantheon.This tribal connection is reflected in various aspects of the Jagannath cult, including the 'Poda Pitha' offering at the Mausima temple.
When Jagannath was being worshipped as 'Sabari-Narayan' by the tribal 'Jara' his daughter Sriya used to offer him baked rice paste pithas.Over the years,it is unclear how 'Sriya' has been metamorphosed into 'Mausi Ma'/ aunt and it remains a mystery.
As per Jagannath mythology, once Goddess Lakshmi Devi left Shri Mandira, thus Jagannath and Balabhadra became poor and had to go out for begging. During that time,they left their sister Subhadra Devi with Mausi Maa.But the deity installed inside the MausiMa temple is neither of Sriya nor the aunt of Jagannath.Iconagraphically,the female deity enshrined within is identified as Ardhashini,who may belong to the Budhist Tantric pantheon.
This simple rite brings out two different phases of the evolution of the Jagannath cult,namely the Tribal and later the Budhist-tantric.This also betokens the autochthonous people’s touching farewell to the Lord,from their tribal ethos to the brahminic milieu,as the Jagannath chariot reaches the gate of the main temple in due time.
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