Kakatpur Mangala
Evolution of the name of the deity as ‘Kakatpur Mangala‘ hails from a legend believed by the locals of Kakatpur village. Goddess Managla kept herself hidden under the deep water of river Prachi.
Once a boatman was sailing his boat across river Prachi. At that time the river was outpouring and flooded so he was unable to sail his boat to the middle of the river. He spent whole day and night but not able to sail his boat and during early morning, before the dawn, Goddess Mangala came in his dream and asked him to recover her from the water and to establish her in nearby Mangalapur village. The boatman dived into the water and able to find the deity from the bed of the river.
Then as per the direction of the Goddess he established the figure of the deity in a temple in Mangalapur village. After this the boatman saw a black crow dived into the water and did not come out of the water for hours and days, the crow detained inside the water of river Prachi exactly in the same place from where he recovered the figure of Goddess Mangala.
In local oriya language ‘Crow‘ means ‘Kaka‘ and ‘Detained‘ means ‘Atka‘. So by combining the two words it becomes ‘Kaka-Atka‘, so during the course of time the Mangalapur village is known as ‘Kakata‘ (Kaka-Atka) pur and the Goddess is known as Kakatpur Mangala.
History
That time before 500 years ago Local Jamindar Roychudamoni family has made the mandir at Kakatpur with all the Sebak arrangement. This Mandir was Made by Panchanan Mitra(Roychudamoni) on 1548A:D. This goddess is very famous with all the qualities of peace, power, happiness, love, purity, knowledge and truth. Unique Goddess Mangala of Kakatpur –by Raghunandan Panda, Kakatpur (24-4-2016): Goddess Mangala is an eminent deity in SAKTA-WORSHIP and is unique in every respect in comparison to all other Hindu Goddesses. Though in Odisha her chief place of worship is village Kakatpur in district Puri, but she is worshipped in other provinces of India in different names like Mangala, SuMangala, ShreeMangala, SarbaMangala,
PradeeptaMangala, MangaLamba, MangalaGauree, Mangaleswaree, MahaMangala, MangalChandee and in so many other names as per SHASTRAS. Very weighty descriptions about this deity are seen in a large number of ancient Indian Sanskrit SHASTRAS. Among the 51 eminent SHAKTIS worshipped at 51 SHAKTI-PITHAS of India, she has occupied two positions in the name of SarbaMangala at Bardhhaman of West-Bengal and MangalChandee at Ujjain of Madhya Pradesh. Among the 18 Most-eminent SHAKTIS i.e. MAHA-SHAKTIS, she has occupied one position in the name of MangalaGauree at Gaya of Bihar, which has been described also by Adi-Shankarachaya in his “Astadasa Saktipeetha Stotram”.
The temple is built in typical Kalinga style and is a major pilgrimage for devotees of Shakti cult. Pilgrims frequent the temple seeking boons from Maa Mangala. There is a bed made of solid stone on which it is said Maa Mangala rests after touring the entire universe every day. As if to attest to this, the bed looks worn out in just the same way it would if it were in use for centuries.
सर्वमङ्गलमाङ्गल्ये शिवे सर्वार्थसाधिके । शरण्ये त्र्यम्बके गौरि नारायणि नमोऽस्तु ते ॥|
Oh Mangala Maa! Consort of Lord Shiva, You who bestows auspiciousness in all, And fulfill everyone’s wishes, I prostrate myself before Thee, Take me under your care.
Jhamu Yatra
Jhamu Yatra is the most popular festival of Goddess Mangala which falls on the first Tuesday of the Vaisakh every year. On this occasion devotees collect water from river Prachi and pray to get her blessings. Then with the mud pot, filled with water, on their shoulder, they are able to walk on the surface of burning fire spread on a long channel on bare feet. Due to their faith on Goddess Mangala and Her blessings on them, the devotee are unhurt and uninjured while performing such a risky custom. Every year thousands of devotees come to Kakatpur to celebrate the Jhamu festival.
Navakalebara
Kakatpur Mangala temple has a close relation with Lord Jagannath Temple of Puri during the Navakalebara (Renovation of the Deities) festival. The new idols are created from a sacred wood known as “Daru”. As per the tradition the priests of Lord Jagannath temple come to Kakatpur Mangala to pray the Goddess to help them to find the Holy sacred wood. The priests visit the goddess and offer Her the things brought for the Banajaga Yatra and then Goddess at night shows the direction of the holy sacred wood or daru in their dreams. This custom has been performed from years together without any deviation. This shows the power and energy of Goddess Mangala and her blessings for her devotees..