PANCHAMUKHI HANUMAN TEMPLE

The Purosottama Kshetra (Puri) is noted for the installation of several Hanuman images in the late medieval period in order to stimulate the martial spirit of the local people to defend Lord Jagannath Temple from the repeated Muslim invasions. The Ramananda Sect made arrangement for the installation of Hanuman images in Puri. Hence, there are a series of Hanuman shrines located in the different parts of Jagannath Puri. To the western side of Gundicha temple and on the bank of sacred Indradyumna tank there is a temple known as the Panchamukhi Hanuman Temple. Devotees can approach the temple on the right side of the road leading from Gundicha temple towards Indradyumna tank. Local people also called this temple as Siddha Hanuman Temple and Panchamukhi Mahavir Temple. This is a small temple, and from the architectural point of view the temple is not so important but from the religious point of view, it is one of the important shrines of Puri.

The presiding deity is Panchamukhi Hanuman. Panchamukhi is a combination of two words 'Pancha' and 'Mukha'. In local langugae 'Pancha' means 'Five' and 'Mukha' means 'Face'. The image has five faces; Varaha in north, Narasimha in south, Hanuman in east, Garuda in west and Hayagriba in top. The image has ten hands, holding sankha, trident, khatwanga, pasa, ankusa, hillock, dhuma, musthi, mace and snake. He is standing over the demon.

Each of the five faces has a different significance and meaning:

• Hanuman Mukha - Facing the East is Anjaneya Mukha in its original form, removes all blemishes of sin and confers purity of Mind.
• Narasimha Mukha - Facing the South, removes fear of enemies and confers victory.
• Garuda Mukha - Facing the west, drives away evil spells, black magic influences etc. and removes all poisonous effects in one's body.
• Varaha Mukha - Facing the North, removes problems caused by bad influences of the planets and confers all prosperity.
• Hayagriba Mukha - Facing upwards, confers knowledge, victory and progeny.

It is believed that devotees will earn more punya if they make a darsana of Sri Nilakantheswar, Yagna Narasimha and Panchamukhi Mahavir after a sacred bath in Indradyumna Tank. Huge crowd gather at Panchamukhi Mahavir temple on festiv occassions like Hanuman Jayanti, Ram Navami, Pana sankranti etc.

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