Bimala

Bimala Shakti Peetha has the singular distinction of being located within the compound of the great Jagannath temple in Puri, Odisha — one of the four dhams of India and one of the holiest Vaishnava sites. The site marks where Sati's navel fell. Bimala Devi (the pure, the immaculate one) is the presiding Shakti and, in the temple tradition, she is considered the actual deity of the Jagannath complex — Jagannath's mahaprasad becomes prasad only after it is first offered to Bimala.

This theological relationship is profound: in this Peetha, the Shakta and Vaishnava traditions interpenetrate completely — Jagannath (a form of Vishnu/Krishna) is present but the mahaprasad is activated by the goddess. The Bimala temple is a small, ancient black-granite shrine within the inner compound of the massive 12th-century Jagannath temple complex. Non-Hindus are not permitted inside the outer gate of the Jagannath temple; the Bimala shrine is deeper within and its darshan is available to Hindu pilgrims after the main Jagannath darshan.

Sati's navel — the nabhi, the source of all creation, the umbilical connection of the universe — fell here in Puri. The navel is the centre (nabhimandalabhumi) of the body and of the cosmos. When the navel of the divine mother fell, the earth became literally the centre of creation. Bimala, the pure goddess, arose here to sanctify and activate all that takes place in the Puri dhama — her purity purifies the offering, her centrality makes Jagannath's prasad sacred.