How Bhagavan Jagannath came to stay at Puri – Part 1

How did the Murtis of Bhagavan Jagannatha, Balabhadra and Maa Subhadra come to be at the temple at Purushottama Kshetra or Puri at Odisha? This story appears in the Utkala Khanda of the Skanda Purana . Over a period of time, the story from the Purana has been embellished with some folklore and has taken a slightly different form. It is that story I am narrating below.

Long long ago in the Satya Yuga, there lived a king called Indradyumna in Malwa Region. He was a great devotee of Bhagavan Vishnu. Once he heard about the greatness of a deity named Neelamadhava who was an exquisite form of Bhagavan Krishna located in a cave atop a mountain called Nilachala. Nilachala was on the eastern coast of Bharat. On further enquiry he found that that the place was called Purushottama Kshetra and that one had to climb the steep mountain to have a darshan of Neelamadhava.

Indradyumna was curious and wanted to visit  Nilachala at the earliest. He discussed about it with his priest and then decided  to send the priest’s brother Vidyapati to visit the place first so that arrangements could be made for himself to visit Nilachala.

Vidyapati  commenced his journey and went to the eastern part of the country but had no clue of where Nilachala was. After a long journey, he reached the foothills of a mountain. Looking for food and shelter, he met the chief of the Sabara tribes who lived there. The chief’s name was Viswavasu.

Vidyapati stayed as a guest at Viswavasu’s house for some time. He observed the chief going out secretively in the afternoons and coming back early morning the following day. This continued for many days. Then he  came to know that the mountain in whose foothills he was staying was indeed Nilachala and that Viswavasu was visiting the cave which was on the top of the mountain to worship Neelamadhava every day.

Vidyapati was elated that he had located Nilachala. He wanted to visit and have darshan of Neelamadhava for himself. He requested Viswavasu to take him along the next day. Viswavasu was very reluctant and did not agree for many days. Vidyapati decided to give up food and water till his request was acceded to. This put Viswavasu in a dilemma. In ancient days guests were revered as Gods, and even the thought of a guest starving was offensive! So Viswavasu agreed to take him, but only under blindfold , till they reached the cave. Vidyapati agreed immediately.

The next day Vidyapati was blindfolded  and led by Viswavasu on the steep path which he climbed with great difficulty. Once his blindfold was removed, Vidyapati was mesmerized by the sheer beauty of the place. There was so much greenery and trees all around. Cool soothing winds were blowing. There was a beautiful pond called Rohini Kund which contained crystal clear water. Vidyapati had a dip in cool fragrant water of the pond and his body and mind felt so rejuvenated.

After the bath he went into the cave. When he saw the figure of Neelamadhava inside he was speechless. Such a stunningly beautiful Murti made of a rare blue stone, which could have never been carved by a human being. An equally mesmerizing Ma Lakshmi’s Murti  was by His side. The features of the Lord were so realistic and the place itself shone with a divine aura. Vidyapati could simply not take his eye off Neelamadhava. Beautiful flowers which he had never seen hitherto decorated Neelamadhava and Vidyapati could see the offerings of the celestial beings in front of the lord. He remembered Viswavasu bringing these left-over offerings home and how wonderfully tasty they were. The mere sight of Neelamadhava had made Vidyapati intoxicated with ecstasy. The whole night was spent by Vidyapati blissfully soaked in the devotion to Neelamadhava. As it dawned Viswavasu brought him back home blindfolded again.

It was then that Vidyapati told Viswavasu, the reason of his having come there – about King Indradyumna’s wish and all. Viswavasu’s face fell. He was reminded of a prediction he had heard as a legend about Neelamadhava and that legend went as follows.

The mere darshan of Neelamadhava gave salvation to anyone who undertook the arduous journey and came to see Him. Salvation meant that they went straight to the Lord’s feet after their period on earth and were never born again. This caused trouble for both Brahma (god of creation) and Yama (god of death) due to reduced births and reduced deaths. Their work drastically reduced, they had complained to Bhagavan Krishna. It is then that Bhagavan had told them that he would disappear from Nilachala  when Indradyumna would come to visit him and then their workload would resume to normal. This legend was known to Viswavasu who believed that it would come true one day.

Viswavasu then told Vidyapati that it was due to the anxiety that the prediction would come true, he resisted any outsider coming  to see Neelamadhava. And for the same reason, to prevent Vidyapati from noting the route, he had blindfolded him. “However” he said , “no one can stop the will of Bhagavan. But King Indradyumna would be disheartened if you tell him the prediction, so please do not disclose this to him”. He further gave Vidyapati a beautiful garland to be given to Indradyumna.

Vidyapati returned to Indradyumna’s palace after a long journey. He presented to the king, the garland which  Viswavasu had given him. Indradyumna was thrilled to receive the garland which was so fresh like new. He listened to Vidyapati’s rapturous description of the form of Neelamadhava and the bliss experienced by Vidyapati. Now he was overcome with a burning desire to go immediately and have Darshan of Neelamadhava.

What happened next? Was Indradyumna able to go and have Darshan of Neelamadhava or did the prediction come true?

We will see that in Part 2…

Note 1: The word ‘darshan’ has been used instead of seeing or sight. This is because in the process of ‘darshan’ the energy from the Murti in which the Supreme power is manifest, gets transferred into the heart of the devotee through his eyes and this is not the same as ‘seeing’ or ‘viewing’ something just like that.

Note 2: The imaginary picture of the Rohini Kund atop Nilachala with beautiful greenery has been generated by me using AI