Jowai, Oct 23: As part of the Durga Puja festivities, hundreds of the Hindu faithful visited the ancient Durga Temple at Nartiang village in Jaintia Hills to provide offerings to Goddess Durga.

It may be noted that the Durga Temple in Nartiang village of West Jaiñtia Hills District is 600 years old and is one of the most important temples for the Hindus in the country.

It is one of the 51 Shakti Peethas and is one of the holiest sites for devotees of the Shaktism sect of Hinduism. It is believed that Sati Devi’s left thigh had fallen there.

The Shakti Peethas have originated from the mythology of ‘Daksha yagna and Sati’s self immolation’ whereby Shiva carried the corpse of Sati Devi and 51 body parts of the corpse fell in the path he had wandered. Each temple has shrines for both Shakti as well as the corresponding male energy counterpart Kalabhairava. The “Shakti” of Nartiang Devi shrine is addressed as ‘Jayanti’ and the “Kalabhairava” as ‘Kamadishwar’. Hence the Goddess is known as Jainteshwari.

The Hindu followers in Jaintia Hills believe that this temple is the permanent abode of Goddess Durga.

During the Durga Puja the temple draws a large number of faithful from all over the country. Some of the devotees also brought goats to the temple to be sacrificed to the Goddess as part of the Puja.

Uniqueness of the Nartiang Durga Temple

The rites at the temple are not performed the conventional way as in the plains, but in a unique way, a blend of Hindu and ancient Khasi-Jaintia traditions.

In conformity of the Khasi custom of not using figurine images of Gods and Goddesses, during Durga Puja, the image of Durga is represented by a plantain trunk, mostly banana plant, decked with marigold flowers and worshipped as the Goddess.

The local chieftain or Syiem is considered the chief patron of the temple.

Even inside the temple, it has three idols, among them one old stone idol of Devi and one metal idol of Durga with eight arms and crushing Mahishasur with her foot.

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