Cuttack, Nov. 10: The intricately carved gold crown of the goddess at Bakhrabad is now bigger with the addition of two peacocks. But, the idol continues to be headless, unlike the ones that come up every year during Kali Puja at the 60-odd mandaps across the city.
At Bakhrabad, the goddess is worshipped as Chhinnamastika - who has severed her own head. The crown adorns the severed head of the goddess that she herself holds in one hand.
Three springs of blood spurt out of her neck. While one streams into her mouth, and the other two go into the mouths of her two female aides. Her left leg is not over Lord Shiv, but a couple embracing each other on a lotus.
In 2013, Bakhrabad had come up with a 120kg silver filigree backdrop - locally called chandi medha by spending over Rs 60 lakh. Last year, it came up with an intricately carved gold crown that cost around Rs 26 lakh.
"The goddess's crown was carved out of 650 grams of gold. This year, 300 grams of gold have been added to the crown in the form of two peacocks," Bakhrabad puja committee secretary Jaydip Pal told The Telegraph. "It cost us around Rs 9 lakh," he said.
The 120kg silver filigree backdrop for the headless goddess to which 10kg silver was added last year in the form of two pasakathis on both sides also has a peculiarity.
Master artisan Pradip Kumar Prusty, who had carved the silver filigree backdrop and the gold crown along with his team, said: "Unlike the other chandi medhas of various mandaps in the city, the 13ftX11ft Tarakashi backdrop for the Chhinnamastika at Bakhrabad has a tree, along with remarkable motifs such as skeleton, wolves and owl that relate to death."
This form of worship, old-timers of the area said, was introduced by Bharat Singh, Mukunda Behera and Rama Dalei in the 1950s. However, nobody knows for sure how and under which circumstances the Chhinnamastika form of worshipping began at Bakhrabad.
"Though we do not know how it started, we have continued with the tradition without making any changes fearing that any deviation might bring bad luck to us," said Bakhrabad Development Committee chairman Samir Bose.
What is striking about the Chhinnamastika goddess is the stark contrast in the iconographic setting - gruesome decapitation, copulating couple, drinking of fresh blood - all arranged in a delicate harmonious pattern.
