Written by - Mahesh Prasad Mishra
Lord Jagannatha.
Five hundred years ago, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu went to live at
Jagannatha Puri after taking sannyasa. He enjoyed many pastimes there
worshipping the deities of Lord Jagannatha (Lord Krsna), Balarama and
Subhadra, and dancing in ecstasy before the ratha yatra cart at the
yearly festival in Puri. Five thousand years ago, Lord Krsna, with His
elder brother Balarama and His younger sister Subhadra, once visited
Kuruksetra in a chariot. Two thousand years later, King Indradyumna
started the temple of Jagannatha in Orissa at Puri, and he wanted to
establish a picture in the temple of Krishna, Subhadra, and Balarama
coming to Kuruksetra in the chariot during solar eclipse.
He
employed Visvakarma to carve them from wood, and made a contract with
Visvakarma that the sculptor would do his work behind closed doors and
the King should not disturb him. But the King, being very impatient to
see, forcefully opened the door. Visvanatha stopped carving, but the
king decided, "Never mind it is half finished. I shall install these
deities in the temple." Since then, the three deities Jagannatha,
Balarama and Subhadra are being worshiped in India at Jagannatha Puri.
In the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika (118) it is said that King Indradyumna
later took birth again in his own family as Maharaja Prataparudra,
during the time of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Maharaja Prataparudra was as
powerful as King Indra. He belonged to the dynasty of the Ganga king,
his capital was in Cuttak, and he was the Emperor of Orissa and a great
devotee of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The drama named Caitanya-candrodaya
was written under his direction.
( The writer is a researcher and resource person and a propagator of Hindu mythological doctrines, I have taken necessary permission to publish it here - Himanshu Guru, blogger)