The Hera Panchami festival is one of the main rituals observed during Puri Jagannath Ratha Yatra in Gundicha Temple, Odisha. The festival is dedicated to Goddess Lakshmi.
Hera means to ‘see’ and Panchami means the ‘fifth day’. On Hera Panchami day Goddess Lakshmi travels to the Gundicha Temple to see Lord Jagannath. The visit of Goddess Lakshmi takes place five days after the Puri Jagannath Ratha Yatra.
During the Ratha Yatra, the chariots carrying Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra are pulled from the Puri Jagannath Temple to the Gundicha Temple. Here the deities visit their aunt. Lord Jagannath had promised his wife Goddess Lakshmi that He would return the next day. But Lord Jagannath does not return the next day. After waiting for five days, Goddess Lakshmi then goes to the Gundicha Temple on a palanquin and sees the Ratha of Lord Jagannath outside Gundicha Temple.
The people who follow the palanquin of Goddess Lakshmi sing the Hera Panchami song which expresses Goddess Lakshmi's anger. At the end of the ritual a small piece of Lord Jagannath’s chariot is broken and Goddess Lakshmi returns in anger.
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