(Left) File picture of Bakhrabad Chinnamastika Kali with chandi medha backdrop last year and (above) the gold crown for the goddess in Cuttack. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Oct. 21: A gold crown for the headless goddess called Chinnamastika is what would add a difference to Kali Puja this year.

The Bakhrabad Puja committee, which is known for its unique style of celebrating Kali Puja, has come up with this idea. Last year, the committee came up with a 120-kg silver filigree backdrop, locally called chandi medha, by spending over Rs 60 lakh.

“The crown intricately carved out of gold has cost us around Rs 26 lakh. It will adorn the goddess’s severed head, which she herself holds in one hand,” said committee secretary Samir Bose told The Telegraph today.

Here the goddess is worshipped not as Kali but as Chinnamastika, a goddess who has chopped her own head. The headless goddess holds her severed head in one hand while three springs of blood spurt out of her neck — one stream falling into the goddess’s mouth and the other two streams into the mouths of her two female aides. Her left leg is not over Lord Shiva but over a couple embracing each other on a lotus.

“The crown contains 650 grams of gold,” said master artisan Pradip Kumar Prusty of Alisha Bazar. He has led the three-member team that completed it in three months.

“This year, 10kg of silver has been added to the 120-kg chandi medha in the form of pasakathis on both sides,” Prusty said.

He said: “Unlike the chandi medhas of other mandaps in the city, the tarakashi (silver filigree) backdrop for Chinnamastika at Bakhrabad has a tree along with remarkable motifs such as skeleton, wolves and owl that symbolise death.”

An old resident of the area said Bharat Singh, Mukunda Behera and Rama Dalei introduced this form of worship in the 1950s. But, nobody knows for sure how and under what circumstances the Chhinnamastika form of worshipping the goddess began at Bakhrabad. “The exact reason is not known to us. We have continued with the tradition without making any change fearing that any deviation may bring bad luck for us,” the Bakhrabad Puja committee secretary said.What is striking about the Chinnamastika goddess is the stark contrast in the iconographic setting — gruesome decapitation, copulating couple, drinking of fresh blood — all arranged in a delicate harmonious pattern.

The most common interpretation is Chinnamastika signifies self-control, courage and discernment. According to experts, Chinnamastika or the goddess with a severed head is the sixth of the 10 mahavidyas (great wisdom) goddesses.

According to the tantric tradition, the spectrum of 10 forms of the goddess is — Tara, Tipura, Sundari, Bhuvaneshvari, Bharavi, Chinnamastika, Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, Matangi and Kamalatmika.