Bhubaneswar, March 19: The last wish of Lord Jagannath's "wife" has been granted.

Sashimani Devi, the 92-year-old devdasi, the last of her clan, today died in Puri following prolonged illness. Sashimani, by virtue of being a devdasi, was widely regarded as the Lord's wife or a consort of the deity.

The nonagenarian devdasi had expressed that she wished to leave the world before the ceremony of last rites for the present idol of Lord Jagannath was conducted during Nabakalebar in July.

The servitor community expressed grief for the last female servitor. " Devdasis were the foremost servitors of the Lord - committing their soul to Him all their life. Sashimani Devi was the last of these devotees with incomparable faith and devotion for the Lord," said Ramachandra Dasmohapatra, a chief servitor at the Puri temple.

"She was a bahara devdasi, meaning she used to sing for all events when Lord Jagannath or His representative deity stepped out of the sanctum sanctorum. She had wept profoundly during the last Nabakalebar event in 1996. This time, her presence would be missed," he said, adding that the servitor families were deeply aggrieved with her death.

The devdasi tradition was an integral part of the Puri temple culture dating back to the temple itself. A girl would be married to Lord Jagannath and sing for the deity on special occasions, while some would dance in private for the Lord. The devdasis remained the wife of the Lord and would adopt a girl child, who succeeded them and thus trained in dance and music by them. There used to be more than one devdasi at any time in the temple.

Sashimani Devi was adopted at the age of seven and soon "married" to the deity. She had served for four Nabakalebar seasons. The government abolished the devdasi tradition after Independence.

For her lifetime service to the Lord, initially Sashimani used to receive Rs 300 as pension that had grown to a meagre Rs 1,000 over the years. She resided at the house of her adopted son, Somnath Pujapanda.

Always flaunting vermilion on forehead and red bangles for her husband, Lord Jagannath, Sashimani helped the dance of the temple survive by training Rupashree Mohapatra in the traditions of the temple dance, Mahari.

"She had taught me since my childhood about the flower adornments that devdasis would wear and dance during various functions of the Lord. The Mahari dance was the forerunner of Odissi," said Rupashree.

"She was a teacher and more like my mother. She would fast for Lord Jagannath during festivals when Odia wives fast for their husbands," she said.

The last devdasi had been unwell for quite a long time and remained bed-ridden since the past few months. The state government had recently helped her with Rs 25,000. "We deeply mourn Sashimani's death," said chief temple administrator Suresh Mahapatra.