History and Shakti Peetha Story
विमला मंदिर - इतिहास और शक्तिपीठ कथा
Page 2 of 7. Checked 17 October
Vimala is the Goddess of Purushottama Kshetra, the old name of Puri. The Puranas name her there, and a Tantra text names Lord Jagannath as her Bhairava. Texts differ on which limb of Sati fell at Puri. This page shows each claim next to its source, so you can see what is firm and what is not.
Quick answer: The Devi Bhagavata Mahapurana (7.30.64) names Vimala at Purushottama. The listing of the four Adi Shakti Peethas names the feet (Pada) for Puri. A Tantra Chudamani verse names the navel and calls Jagannath her Bhairava. We state both and do not pick one.
Last verified: 17 October 2026. Timings, rules and facilities at Srimandir can change. Please confirm with the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration before you travel.
The Sati Story in Brief
सती कथा संक्षेप में
Sati was the daughter of Daksha. She gave up her life at her father's yajna, and Shiva was overcome with grief. In the Puranic account, parts of her body fell at many places on earth. Each place became a peetha, a seat of the Goddess.
The Devi Bhagavata Mahapurana has a full chapter on this. Skandha 7, Adhyaya 30 is titled Devipitha-varnanam, a description of the Devi peethas. It lists 108 of them, each with the name the Goddess bears there.
What the Puranas Say About Vimala
विमला के बारे में पुराण क्या कहते हैं
This is the verse from that chapter that names Vimala.
गयायां मङ्गला प्रोक्ता विमला पुरुषोत्तमे ॥ ६४ ॥
gayāyāṃ maṅgalā proktā vimalā puruṣottame
English: At Gaya the Goddess is called Mangala. At Purushottama she is called Vimala.
In simple words: The same Mother is known by different names at different holy places. At Puri, which the old texts call Purushottama Kshetra, she is Vimala.
Source: Devi Bhagavata Mahapurana, Skandha 7, Adhyaya 30, verse 64 (second half of the verse). This chapter describes the Devi peethas. Text checked against an online Sanskrit edition.
The Orissa Review is a Government of Odisha magazine. Two of its articles on Shakta worship in Puri collect more references. We checked the Devi Bhagavata verse above ourselves. We have not read the other texts in the table, so those rows are as the Orissa Review reports them.
| Text | What the Orissa Review says it records | How we checked |
|---|---|---|
| Devi Bhagavata Purana | Vimala is the kshetra shakti, the Goddess of the sacred place. The verse above names her at Purushottama. | Verse checked in an online Sanskrit edition |
| Matsya Purana | Purushottama Kshetra is a Shakta peetha, and its presiding goddess is Vimala. | As reported by the Orissa Review |
| Vamana Purana | Purushottama is named with Viraja as a sacred centre. | As reported by the Orissa Review |
| Kalika Purana | Odra pitha is a famous Shakti peetha, the seat of Katyayani and Jagannath. | As reported by the Orissa Review |
| Rudrayamala (about 950 AD) | Jagannath adorns the Mahapitha. | As reported by the Orissa Review |
| Pranatoshini Tantra | Its list of 108 peethas names Vimala as the goddess of Purushottama Kshetra. | As reported by the Orissa Review |
The Four Adi Shakti Peethas
चार आदि शक्तिपीठ
Texts such as the Kalika Purana and the Ashta Shakti are quoted for a short list of four Adi Shakti Peethas. In that list, Bimala at Puri is Pada khanda, the feet. The other three are Tara Tarini near Berhampur (breasts), Kamakhya at Guwahati (yoni) and Dakshina Kalika at Kalighat, Kolkata (mukha, the face). We have seen this list quoted on a cultural website. We have not checked it in a printed Kalika Purana.
Read the stories of the other two shrines in our Tara Tarini Temple history and Kamakhya Temple history pages.
Two of the other three have their own guides on Dekho Dham. Read the Tara Tarini Temple History, Story and Significance and the Kamakhya Temple History, Story and Significance to compare how each peetha is described in the texts.
Which Limb Fell at Puri? Two Answers
पुरी में कौन-सा अंग गिरा? दो उत्तर
The Orissa Review says many Tantra texts treat Puri as the Pada peetha, where the foot of Sati fell. A second Orissa Review article (2006) cites the Tantra Chudamani in English, saying the naval portion of Sati fell in Utkala. It adds that this kshetra came to be known as Viraja or Navikshetra.
उत्कले नाभिदेशस्तु विरजाक्षेत्रमुच्यते ।
विमला सा महादेवी जगन्नाथस्तु भैरवः ॥
utkale nābhideśas tu virajākṣetram ucyate | vimalā sā mahādevī jagannāthas tu bhairavaḥ ||
English: In Utkala, the navel region of the Goddess is said to be Viraja Kshetra. There she is the Great Goddess Vimala, and Jagannath is her Bhairava.
In simple words: This verse says that Sati's navel fell in Odisha. It names the Goddess of that place as Vimala. It names Lord Jagannath as her Bhairava, the Lord who stands with her at the peetha.
Source: Tantra Chudamani, Pithanirnaya. This is a Tantra text, not a Veda or a Mahapurana. Web sources give different chapter and verse numbers, so we print none. Spelling is tidied from the web copies, which differ slightly. Please check a printed edition before quoting it formally.
Viraja Kshetra is also the name used for Jajpur, where the Biraja Temple stands, so some writers place this verse there. Wikipedia reads the same Pithanirnaya section as naming Vimala as the goddess and Jagannath as Bhairava, and says one version of the text lowers the site from a Pitha to an upa-Pitha. So the texts themselves do not agree.
What we do: We say Pada (the feet) because that is the standard Adi Shakti listing, and we say the navel verse exists in the Tantra Chudamani. We cannot settle the question from the texts, and we do not claim to.
The Shrine and the Image
मंदिर और प्रतिमा
The Orissa Review describes the present Vimala Temple as a four-chambered shrine from the Ganga period. It was most probably built on the foundation of an earlier Shakta shrine. Wikipedia adds that it faces east, is built of sandstone and laterite, and stands next to the sacred pond Rohini Kunda.
The goddess is a four-armed image in chlorite stone. The upper hands hold a naga keyura and human figures. The lower hands hold a kalasa or Madyapatra (a vessel) and a rosary, as the 2005 article describes it. The 2005 article says Dr. H.C. Das dates the image to the Bhaumakara period, when many Tantric peethas rose in Odisha.
The 2006 article says her origin at Purushottama Kshetra is shrouded in obscurity. It also says she has been the peetha devi much before the emergence of Lord Jagannath. Read this as the view of one article, since no document fixes the date.
Vimala and Jagannath
विमला और जगन्नाथ
In Tantric tradition Jagannath is the Bhairava and Vimala is the Bhairavi. A Bhairava is the Lord who stands beside the Goddess at a peetha. The 2005 Orissa Review article says the Tantra Chudamani describes Vimala as Bhairavi and Jagannath as Bhairava.
The temple keeps one rule that shows her place. The bhogas offered to Jagannath become Mahaprasad only after they are offered to Vimala. Our page on Puri Mahaprasad covers the food itself. A popular story links this rule to leftover food of Vishnu. We could not trace it to a Purana, so treat it as a local story.
The same article adds a few more details.
- Both Vaishnava and Shakta rites are found in her worship.
- She is invoked as the Maya Shakti of Jagannath, the Kriya Shakti of Balabhadra and the Ichha Shakti of Subhadra.
- She is counted among the eight Chandis of Purushottama Kshetra. She is also one of the eight Shaktis said to protect the shrine. The two articles list a few of the names differently, but both include Sarva Mangala, Bhubaneswari, Indrani, Chamunda, Durga, Vimala and Lakshmi.
Tradition, as Wikipedia records it, also says Adi Shankara set up the Govardhana Matha at Puri with Vimala as its presiding goddess. Read about the matha in our post on the four mathas of Adi Shankaracharya.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers
Who is Goddess Vimala?
Which scripture names Vimala at Puri?
Which part of Sati fell at Vimala Temple?
Is Vimala Temple older than the Jagannath Temple?
Why is Jagannath called her Bhairava?
What is the rule about Mahaprasad?
Which verse names Vimala at Puri?
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Sources and further reading
- Devi Bhagavata Mahapurana, Skandha 7, Adhyaya 30 (online Sanskrit edition, satsangdhara.net)
- Orissa Review (Government of Odisha), July 2005: Saktism in Purusottama Kshetra
- Orissa Review (Government of Odisha), June 2006: Sakta Pithas of Purusottama Kshetra
- Wikipedia: Vimala Temple
- Wikipedia: Biraja Temple, Jajpur
- eSamskriti: Four Adi Shakti Peethas (quotes the Kalika Purana and Ashta Shakti listing)
- Webdunia: Virja Vimala Shaktipeeth, Puri (quotes the Tantra Chudamani verse)
- Green Message: Viraja Kshetra Shakti Peetha (Peetha Nirnaya Tantra listing)
- ISKCON Desire Tree: Rohini Kunda
Have a question, or spotted something we should verify? Ask in the comments and we will check it against official sources and correct the post. See how we source information.
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