God’s Human Wife Prays for Husband's Long Life

BY: SUN STAFF CORRESPONDENT

May 25, JAGANNATHA PURI, ORISSA — Sabitri is a traditional festival in Orissa where the dedicated married women commemorate the romantic episode of Sabitri-Satyaban (a married couple) in religious scriptures and pray for their respective husbands' prosperity and long life.

“Lord Jagannath is my husband. So it is quite sensible to pray for the welfare and long life of my husband, who is Lord Jagannath himself,” said Sashimani, who is the second surviving Devadasi, also known as a human wife of the God. The other surviving Devadasi is Parshomani Devi (68). “Goddess Mahalaxmi is the divine consort of Jagannath. But I am the only living human wife of Jagannath,” the octogenarian woman quipped.

A number of devotees came to her house to take blessings from her, as she was the human wife Lord Jagannath. “I never forget to take blessings from her. She is close to God. So she is a divine power,” Sangita Rani, a woman devotee said.

Sashimani said she tied the knot with Lord Jagannath at the age of seven only. Since then she has been living the life of a celibate. “I did not marry anyone because I was married to Jagannath,” she said. Characteristic to the Devadasi tradition the women used to dance in front of the Deity during the Lord's various rituals. However, the system at the temple came to extinction apparently in the 1970's due to certain technical reasons.

“I have been observing Sabitri for my husband ever since I married him, when I was seven. Like other married women, I also wore new saree and bangles and kept fasting. Early morning, I visited the Jagannath Temple to have a glimpse of my husband,” said a blushing Sashimani, who lives in city's Dolamandap sahi, a stone’s throw from the 12th century shrine.

In much difficulty, Sashimani recollected that she stopped dancing in the temple when she was nearly 40. Now, she ekes out a living by the help of the temple administration and magnanimous people.

“The Devadasi tradition faded from the temple after the death of a handful of Devadasis. Till the 1980's, only four Devadasis were left in the temple. They were Harapriya, Kokilaprabha, Parshomani and Sashimani. But now, only Sashimani and Parshomani are alive. They are the two surviving Devadasis of Jagannath,” Puri district culture officer Prafulla Samantaray said.