Metakani

Metakani is a folk goddess of western Odisha, worshipped in a forest shrine near Ulunda in Subarnapur district. She is regarded as a local mother goddess of the villagers of the area, and her worship blends tribal and Shakta custom. Devotees come to make vows and to offer coconuts. Local accounts say the goddess originated from a woman named Meta, though this is oral tradition. Large gatherings are reported in the Navaratri season, and the shrine is among the better known forest sacred places of the region.

Metakani belongs to the world of village goddesses, who are rooted in local landscape and memory rather than in the Puranas. The Subarnapur district tourism account places her shrine in a forest near Ulunda. According to people of the region, the goddess originated from a woman called Meta. This...