Mausimaa Temple, Ganjam, Odisha
| Date built: | – |
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| Deity: | – |
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| Major festivals | – |
| Locale: | – |
| District:: | Ganjam |
| Address: | Bhotaka, Odisha 755009 |
| Phone | – |
Mausimaa Temple is an ancient shrine in Ganjam District of Orissa. The temple can be approached by road from Bhubaneswar (140 km) and Chhatrapur (102 km). The nearest railway station is at Berhampur (88 km). It is about 8 km from Bhanja Nagar.The presiding deity of the temple is aunty (Mother’s Sister) of Lord Jagannath.
The temple celebrates its festival during the Rath Yatra held in the Jagannath Temple (Puri). Upper Bagh Devi Temple and Ratneswar Mahadev temple are important shrines nearby.This temple is located in Kullada, a village also famous for its Bagdevi temple in Ganjam district.
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Legend / Local stories
Puri is one of the majestic places. The serene land is ornamented with gorgeous beaches, rolling surf of Bay of Bengal, and the temples, which make Puri one of the sacred places.
The Shree temple is quite known to the world. With Lord Jagannath adorning the throne of the Shree temples with his siblings, it is one of the most sought after pilgrimage site in India. However, along with this, there is another famous temple- Mausi Maa Temple.
It is situated in the midway at Grand Road in Puri, the temple is dedicated to Mausi Maa. The literal meaning of Mausi means ‘Aunt’ (mother’s sister) and ‘Maa’ means mother. This could be stated that it is the temple of Aunt mother of Lord Jagannath.
There is another name for the Goddess Mausi Maa- Ardhasini. According to a tale, she drank half of the seawater to save Puri from drowning in floods. And therefore got the name Ardhasini. According to another belief, Ardhasini along with Kapalmochna Shiva are the day and night guardians of Shree Temple and Puri Town.
The temple is closely associated with Rath Yatra or Chariot Festival. Mausima temple is facing towards south and closely associated with the Car festival of Lord Jagannath. As per the rituals of Car Festival, on the day of Bahuda Jatra (return car festival day), the chariots of Balabhadra and Subhadra are pulled directly to the Singha Dwara (Lion’s Gate of Jagannath Temple), whereas the chariot of Jagannath stops in front of Mausima temple for a while. Here, Lord Jagannth accepts his favorite rice cake known as ‘Poda Pitha’ from his aunt.
Other festivals like Mahasaptami, Mahasaptami, Mahanavami are also observed in Ardhasini temple.
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