Maa Chandi temple is placed at banks of Mahanadi River at Cuttack. Cuttack or the other name of the city is silver city is famous for its Durga Maa puja and Maa Chandi temple. She is refer as the Living Goddess of that town by the peoples. Peoples of Cuttack worship her by bringing their hearts out. Maa Chandi is believe to be the other form of Maa Durga. The idol of Maa Chandi had four hands in which she holds Paasa,Ankusha, Abhaya and Varada. The annual Durga puja and Kali maa puja is famous in this place. Peoples goes to the Maa Chandi temple till midnight on the eve of Kali puja as it is belief that Maa comes to life during this time and it is the best time to seek blessings from Maa.
The temple of Maa Chandi which is now located behind banks of river Mahanadi, is not present in earlier periods. That land is used to be a barren land and cattle’s were grazed in that land. The history is connected to a person named late Hansa Panda who reared cattle’s in that field. It is a usual day for him but on that fateful day he slept on a heap of dry grass. During his sleep he felt uneasiness. During the following night he had a dream of Maa Kateshwari Chandi in which she order him to take her out from that land. Next day when that land is dig they found a huge amount of red Sindoor and the idol of Maa Chandi. After that a temple was built in which this idol was placed and people started worshipping her. From that day Maa Chandi is also known as The Living Goddess of Cuttack.
Maa Chandi temple is one of the oldest temple of Odisha. The place is famous for the Maa as many peoples believe that she is other form of Maa Durga. For this Durga Puja and Kali puja is done in a very fascinating way and to watch this puja many tourist even from outside of Odisha visit this place. There are many reputed lodges and hotels are there to accommodate tourist.
By road: Cuttack is well connected by road to all major cities of Odisha.
By Rail: Nearest railway station is Cuttack.
By Air: Nearest airport is Bhubaneswar airport.
