Mangala

Mangala is a Shakta goddess worshipped at Kakatpur in Puri district, on the bank of the Prachi river. She is revered as the protector of the region and as a guide at the Navakalebara of Lord Jagannath, when servitors of the Puri temple come to her seeking direction in their search for the sacred neem wood. Her best known festival is the Jhamu Yatra on the first Tuesday of Baisakha, in which devotees walk across a channel of burning embers carrying pots of Prachi water.

The central local story explains how the goddess came to Kakatpur. According to tradition, the goddess lay hidden beneath the Prachi river. A boatman caught in a flood could not make his boat move, and before dawn the goddess appeared in his dream and told him to recover her from the river and...