Cuttack Chandi

Cuttack Chandi is the presiding goddess of the city of Cuttack, worshipped at a temple near the Mahanadi as Katakeswari Chandi, the Chandi of Cuttack. Odisha Hindu Endowments describes her as the guardian of the city and the temple as one of the oldest in Cuttack. Her great festival is Durga Puja, observed for sixteen days from Ashwina Krishna Ashtami to Vijayadashami, when she is worshipped in sixteen forms. The silver filigree decorated pandals of the city, the Chandi Medhas, are famous across Odisha.

There is no written history of the temple, according to the Odisha Hindu Endowments account. A legend records that Hansa Panda, priest of the Kanika king of Cuttack, used to graze cattle and sheep on the land where the temple stands. One night the goddess Katakeswari Chandi appeared in his dream...