By: Ashish Sarangi
~ Maa Pendrani ~
Goddess Maa Pendrani is a legendary deity of Umerkote, Nabarangpur. A temple has been constructed at west end of town in order to create a place for worshiping for locals. Sunday is the only weekday on which temple remains open.
Maa Pendrani of Umerkote is born out of a legend. A small village Pendra (Pendrahandi) near Umerkote worship a pure soul Pendrani, a married girl who was a victim of secret jealousy of her own brothers. Her husband was killed by her brothers. Pendrani could unfold the heinous crime and apparently jumped into her husband’s funeral pyre and perished in its flames. Days later her spirit was believed to roam about the villages helping those who trusted her supernatural transformation. People adore her sacrifice.
Another legend related to the origin of Maa Pendrani is as follows: Goddess Pendragarhien, also known as Pendrani is worshipped by the tribal people of Odisha and the bordering districts of Chhattisgarh. It has a history of last 400 years. The focal theme of the myth was about a Gond bride Pendrani; whose husband (bride service) was killed by her seven brothers in order to get good harvest by offering human sacrifice to Earth Mother Goddess. Pendrani, searched for her husband & found that her own brothers had sacrificed her bride service- husband. While wondering in the forest a tiger ate her and after that her spirit became a Goddess.
Over a period of last 400 years she has transformed from a revengeful goddess into a blissful goddess. She is now worshiped as the Goddess of wealth in western part of Odisha and eastern part of Chhatisgarh.
Information and pics: Wikipedia, Discover Umarkote and Google