Excerpt from the book By His Holiness Bhakti Purushottama Swami :
The Pastime and History of LORD JAGANNATHA IN RAJAPUR
How Lord Jagannatha Came to Simantadvipa
In Sri Navadvipa-dhama-mahatmya, Lord Jagannatha instructs Sri Ramanujacarya as follows:
"Everyone knows Krsna, the Lord of Goloka. That Krsna, whose vildsa-murti is Narayana, is the supreme Truth, and He resides in Vrndavana. That Krsna is fully manifest in the form of Gaurahari, and that Vrndavana is fully manifest in the form of Navadvipa-dhama, the topmost abode in the universe. By My mercy that dhdma has appeared within Bhu-mandala, yet it remains without the scent of maya. This is the verdict of the scripture. If you say that Navadvipa is part of the material world, then your devotion will dwindle day by day. I have placed this spiritual abode within the material world by My desire and inconceivable energy. Simply by reading scriptures one will not get the highest truth, for the highest truth surpasses all reasoning power. Only the devotees can understand by My mercy." To teach the yuga-dharma of nama-sankirtana, the Supreme Personality of Godhead assumed the form of a devotee immersed in love of God. He is known by the names of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Gaurariga, and Gaurahari."
Just a few kilometers away from the place where Lord Gaurahga appeared, situated on the top of a hill in Simantadvipa, is the village of Rajapur. Within that lovely rural area one can find the charming temple of Lord Jagannatha, which is now managed by ISKCON. Whoever visits Sri Navadvipa must take darsana of Lord
Jagannatha. It is stated in the sastras that Sri Ksetra, or Jagannatha Puri, is eternally manifest in this holy place and that all benefits one can attain by visiting Jagannatha Purl may be achieved by visiting the Sri Jagannatha Mandir in Rajapur.
Seventh Century History
Lord Jagannatha of Sri Simantadvipa is not different from the Master of Sri Nilacala Dhama (Jagannatha Purl) Himself. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has reestablished this truth with historical facts is his book Sri Navadvlpa-dhdma-mdhatmya, "the glories of Navadvipa-dhama." The following story is mentioned in that book:
Around the seventh century, one Yavana king named Raktabahu appeared in the region of Orissa. He was very sinful and irreligious and caused great devastation, destroying temples and terrorizing the hearts of the pious people in Orissa. When the devotees of Lord Jagannatha in Purl came to know about the mischievousness of Raktabahu, they became very much afraid. They immediately approached Lordjagannatha: "O worshipful Lord," the devotees prayed, "we are in great anxiety knowing that a miscreant named Raktabahu is breaking down all temples and destroying the Deities inside. He is now proceeding in this direction. He may come at any moment and attack Your temple. If that happens, then we will have to give up our lives, because we'll never be able to tolerate any action against You. Please, save us from this danger by making proper arrangements for the protection of Your divine form and the temple, O Almighty Lord!"
Being thus approached by his devotees, Lordjagannatha appeared in the dream of the head priest that night and spoke to him as follows: " My dear pujdrl, I am completely overwhelmed by perceiving the ardent love and devotion that you devotees have for Me. You all love Me more than your own self. Lhis is the symptom of a pure devotee. Actually nobody can harm My divine form or My temple. I certainly need not worry about that. Just by My powerful will I can keep all miscreants away from the place where I stay with My beloved devotees. But in order to bless My devotees and to reciprocate with them, many times I accept this kind of 'hardship' willingly. In this way My devotees' love and attachment for Me increases manifold. And since this is their desire, I establish their love for Me in a more prominent way. Tomorrow, therefore, please, remove the Deities of Myself, Lord Balarama, and Subhadra Devi and set out for Bengal. You should take the path through the jungle so that you can easily escape Raktabahu, who is coming by the main road. Have no fear, I will always protect you!"
The Lord then disappeared from the dream and the pujarl woke up. He immediately broadcast the message, which stirred the devotees, and they all started to make the proper arrangements for the Lord's journey.
The traditional system of service to the Lord in Jagannatha Purl is that devotees from different sections of society are assigned to various services. For instance, Brahmanas are responsible for worship of the deities. Other devotees cook for the Lord's pleasure. Those devotees known as the Sabaras perform the service of carrying Sri Sri Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra Devi when Their Lordships attend certain festivals like sndna-yatra, etc.
When the message reached the Sabaras that the Lord wanted to leave for Bengal, they immediately made all necessary arrangements for departure the next morning. They walked all day and just before dusk set in, they settled in a suitable place. There they collected fruits, flowers, and leaves from the jungle and worshipped Their Lordships. Finally they put Them to rest, and after honoring the Lord's mahd-prasddam they themselves took rest. The next morning, after the Deities had been worshipped, the Sabaras again started for their destination. In this way they spent eleven days, and on the twelfth they arrived in Simantadvipa, one of the nine islands of Navadvipa Dhama. That night, Lord Jagannatha appeared in the dream of the head Sahara and expressed His desire to settle in this very place, which was transcendental in all respects. At once, the Sahara devotees made all efforts for the proper arrangements to fulfill the Lord's desire to stay there permanently. The Sahara Vaisnavas went on serving the Lord for generations to come. Due to their pure love and devotion they all attained liberation and finally went back to Godhead, to Lord Jagannatha's eternal abode in the spiritual sky. Till today the Sahara's village is located near the Jagannatha temple and is known as Sabara-dariga, "the place of the Sabaras." Gradually, by the influence of time, the Deities and the temple disappeared from sight. The Lord, however, never left that place ...
Sixteenth Century History
At the time of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, a devotee named Jagadisa Ganguli lived in a small village near the present-day Mayapur. Jagadisa was a highly elevated Vaisnava and even though he was very old, still every year he would make the 900km journey on foot to Jagannatha Purl on the Bay of Bengal. He would travel with other devotees from Bengal to meet their most dear Lord Caitanya, have darsana of Their Lordships Sri Sri Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra Devi, and participate in the ecstatic Rathayatra. After four months they would return to their homes in Bengal. One day Jagadisa's happiness was ruined. He was stricken with a serious disease that left him totally blind. When he realized that he could no longer see the divine forms of Lord Caitanya and the Jagannatha Deities, he became very depressed. Worse yet, his friends considered the annual pilgrimage to Purl too long and too dangerous for a blind man and they refused to take him along with them. Jagadisa remained in Navadvlpa in constant lamentation and despondency. Out of hopelessness he even considered committing suicide.
Then one night Lord Jagannatha appeared to Jagadisa in a dream. The next morning, the Lord told him, whenjagadisa went for his daily bath in the Gariga a log would touch his head and restore his vision. The Lord told Jagadisa that he should take that log and go to a nearby village where a devotee-carpenter lives. The Lord explained also that the carpenter would refuse the work because he was a leper and had deformed hands. Jagadisa would have to insist, and convince the carpenter to do this work. On completion of this job, the Lord assured, the carpenter's leprosy would immediately vanish.
Upon awakening, Jagadisa was amazed at his dream. He immediately left for his morning bath in the Gariga and became ecstatic when a log touched his head and restored his vision. He took the wood and went to a nearby village, where he searched and searched until he found a leper-carpenter. Jagadisa implored the leper to carve a deity of Lord Jagannatha from the wood, but the carpenter flatly refused. He showed Jagadisa his deformed fingers and asked him, "How is it possible for me to carve the divine form of the Lord with these hands?" But Jagadisa insisted. He explained to the leper that his leprosy would be cured once he finished the carving. Finally the leper agreed.
Jagadisa stayed with the leper as he was working and saw him suffering terribly. Blood and pus oozed from the stumps that were once his fingers and he wanted to quit the work. But Jagadisa encouraged him and enabled him to forget his agony long enough to finish the deity of Lord Jagannatha. The very moment he finished, his leprosy disappeared. Jagadisa took the deity to a site near the present Jagannatha temple and established His worship there. A few nights later, Jagadisa had another dream. This time Lord Jagannatha instructed him to take some nearby neem wood to the same carpenter and have him make deities of Subhadra and Balarama. Jagadisa did so and installed Them in the temple next to Lord Jagannatha.
Legend has it that after the demise of Jagadisa Ganguli, the Lord, being dissatisfied with the neglectful state of His worship, decided to end His manifest pastimes. Suddenly there was an outbreak of cholera. The inhabitants of the surrounding area assembled at the temple and prayed to Prabhu Jagannatha to have pity on them and save their lives. That night, Jagannatha came to the head priest in a dream and said, "One of the housewives of the Ganguli family, who is characterless, dared to dishonour me. For this offense everyone in the Ganguli family and the village will die if they do not leave the place." The next morning the villagers found the members of the Ganguli family dead and immediately deserted the entire area. Since there was no more worship at the temple, Lord Jagannatha, Subhadra. and Balarama were forgotten, and save for the flat roof over Their heads, the temple fell down around Them and was soon covered by the surrounding jungle.
PASTIMES FROM 1950's TO 1970's
Lord Jagannatha's Mercy on Phatik Chatterjee's'Family Narrated by Gauri, the youngest daughter of Sri Phatik Chatterjee
"Why is no one feeding us!"
During the Bangladesh war in 1971, there was a lot of communal agitation in India. Phatik Chatterjee, the previous owner of the temple, had seven daughters. He was a little afraid living here because there is a Muslim village nearby. So he moved to Katwa to protect his daughters. But one of the local Muslims from here went to him and said, "Please come back to Rajapur." Phatik Chatterjee refused. The Muslim said, "We will give you all protection." Phatik again politely refused. Then the Muslim said, "Actually we have been hearing voices coming from the temple. They are saying, 'Why isn't anyone coming anymore? Why no one is feeding us?' We are very frightened, please come back and we promise to give you a twenty-four hour guard." So then he agreed to come back and the villagers gave full protection.
"I Saw a Light Hovering over You!"
While one of Phatik Chatterjee's daughter was getting married, a group of anti-socials turned up. He knew they were thieves, dacoits. But since the wedding was under way, he invited them in, saying, "Please come, eat something." Later on the group were discussing amongst themselves, and people were watching them because a wedding means there is gold around and they were a little nervous. Then the group began to argue amongst themselves, and finally they broke away from each other and left. A few nights later, their leader came back and knocked on Phatik's door and said,"I want to speak to you."
Phatik said, "I am not going to open the door, please don't mind."
The dacoit said that he was genuine. "I want to tell you something. Actually that night of the wedding, we came to rob you. And while we were planning how to do it, I saw a light coming from Jagannatha's temple and hovering over you. And I knew that it was not an ordinary thing. I told the others what I saw and told them, 'We won't be successful in our job, we won't do anything tonight.' But some members who wanted to go ahead with the robbery became angry, and a fight broke out, then every one left." And thus Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra protected Their pujari.
Unusual Footprint
One Snana-yatra day, Phatik Babu's wife, Nirmala Devi, became very ill. There was heavy rain that day and people had assembled in the temple of Jagannatha. Nirmala Devi was in bed the whole day. When Phatik Babu came back to his house and entered the room, he was astonished to see an unusual footprint in the dust on the floor. He realized that the footprint was of none other than Jagannathaji Himself. He at once took some dust of that footprint and placed it on the body of Nirmala Devi and some of it on his own head and immediately Nirmala Devi recovered from her illness.
"Did you see anything unusual last night?"
Phatik Babu used to worship mother Kali and one time he bought a goat for sacrificing. Somehow or other the goat disappeared. Many persons were deployed to search out the goat, but in vain. Gauri, the youngest daughter of Phatik Babu, also went out to search for that goat along with her niece, Kalpana. While out searching, Gauri suddenly saw the beautiful images of Lord Jagannatha and Krishna in front of her. Their colour was deep black and Their bodies were fully decorated with ornaments. They had crowns that made Them so attractive. Gauri saw that both of Them were laughing. Meanwhile Kalpana called out for Gauri. Instead of going back, Gauri tried to attract Kalpana's attention to these images in front of her. But despite all efforts Kalpana could not see Them, and she turned and went away. Gauri followed Kalpana but she did not reveal anything of what had happened. The next day Jaimini Ghosh, under inspiration from Lord Jagannatha, asked Gauri to tell her parents if she saw anything unusual last night. Then Gauri narrated the above incident.
The following stories were narrated by Dilip Bhattacharya, grandson of Sri Phatik Chatterjee
Jagannatha Removes Darkness
When Dilip was approximately 10 years old, he and his elder brother, plus two other cousin brothers, were given upanayam by Phatik Chatterjee, who was very keen on making them worshippers of Lord Jagannatha. As per the ritual, the boys were kept inside for three days and only on the fourth day were they allowed out. At that time the boys, who were very excited about having a clean-shaved head and wooden peg shoes, thought of going to the nearby market at Bamanpukur. It was early evening by the time they returned, and along the way they suddenly felt a very fearful presence, and so they all huddled up together. Phatik Chatterjee had instructed them that if they ever felt frightened, they should chant the Hare Krsna mantra, Jagannatha's name, and the Gayatrl mantra. So they began to chant the mantras. Then suddenly they saw a brilliant blue light coming from the temple sikhara, shooting up into the sky and lighting up the entire area. The boys still huddled up managed with great effort to drag themselves away from that place until they reached their house where they fell flat on the floor. They told Phatik Chatterjee of what had happened to them, and he told them that Lord Jagannatha had protected them.
Effulgence From the Temple
Another time Dilip's mother went to the temple to offer a lamp. After some time they could see so much light inside the closed doors of the temple. They thought a rat might have pulled the lamp and it had caught fire inside the temple. When they ran to the place they saw a strong blue light coming from underneath the door. When they opened the door, the light disappeared but the scent of frankincense was everywhere.
"Don't leave this place."
After the temple was given to ISKCON and Phatik Chatterjee left his body (in 1986), Dilip's father, Ram Bhattacharjee—who had been assisting Phatik for many years—decided to return to Belpukur, where he had his own house and property, and settle there. That same night both Ram and his wife both had startling experiences. Ram's wife started foaming at the mouth and Ram started choking, his eyes bulging in their sockets.After some time they returned to normal, but they were left shaken. Later on in the morning, Lord Jagannatha appeared before Ram, sitting on his chest, telling him that he cannot leave this place. So Ram declared that as long as he lived, he will not move anywhere. He also advised his children (Dilip and brother) to do the same. Later they built a house just 500 metres away from Jagannatha temple.
"1 must take darshan of Jagannatha."
After Dilip's parents passed away, on several occasions Dilip tried to move back to Belpukur or other places where he could earn a better income, but Lord Jagannatha would come to him in his dreams and, sometimes lovingly and other times threateningly, tell him not to move away from Him. Dilip says, "If I don't visit Jagannatha two days in a week, everything in the house gets disturbed and life becomes very irritating. And still now, so many problems 1 constantly face, I just go and inform Dada (a name he has lovingly called Lord Jagannatha since childhood, which means elder brother), and sure enough within no time it all settles down."
Pastimes Narrated byjaimini Ghosh
"You have to maintain yourself."
After the temple and Deities had been repaired, Jaimini Ghosh desired to serve Them, but he had no money, so he appealed to Lord Jagannatha and explained his plight. That night two huge branches fell from the tree beside the Temple; he sold that wood and the money provided for the se\d for a few months.
When the money was finished, he again approached Lord Jagannatha and said, "Prabhu, I cannot maintain You anymore, You will have to maintain Yourself." From that day on, inside the temple on the side of the altar he would find just enough money to pay for the days puja."
"Free trip to Puri"
Another time Jaimini fell asleep outside the temple. When he awoke, to his surprise he found himself in Puri during the Rathayatra festival. He enjoyed the festival for some days, but thought of how his parents, who knew nothing of his whereabouts, would be terribly worried about him. He decided to return home, but didn't have any money for his fare. Approaching some pandas, he explained his situation. The pandas advised him, "If Lord Jagannatha brought you here, then go before Him and ask Him to take you back." Jaimini did just that, and the next morning when he woke up he found himself back in Rajapur.
Stories From Other Sources
Lord Jagannatha Didn't Want to Leave
Some Brahmanas from a local village felt they could offer Lord Jagannatha a better standard of worship and wanted to take Him to their village. So one day they came and stole Lord Jagannatha. While carrying Him across the fields, they all suddenly felt the need to answer nature's call, so they put Lord Jagannatha down and went to relieve themselves. But upon returning they found that they could not lift Lord Jagannatha, and so they went and found some more men to help them. Despite their many attempts, however, they could not budge the Lord. Then they realized that He didn't want to leave Rajapur, so they came back and told the priests, "We have made a big offense; your Deity is out in the field, please bring Him back." So two pujarls went and easily picked Him up and carried Him back home.
Epidemic
Once there was a very serious epidemic in this area; a lot of people were getting sick and some of them were dying. Lord Jagannatha appeared in a dream to the pujarl and told him of a medicine that would cure this disease. In the morning the pujarl called all the villagers and told them to gather the ingredients to make this medicine. They did so, but were unable to find one ingredient, which doesn't grow in this area. But later in the day a small boy came to the temple carrying a branch, which he gave to the pujarl's wife. When the pujarl returned and saw that branch he became very excited and said, "Oh, that's just what we want, this is the last herb we need to make this medicine! Who has brought this?" The wife replied, "Oh, a very charming little boy brought it. I don't think he was from this village, for I have not seen him before." So they made that medicine and everybody was cured. From that day Lord Jagannatha has earned great respect even from the non-Hindus.
"Don't show your feet to the deities."
Once some children were playing in front of the old temple. One of the girls started showing the soles of her feet to the Deities in an insolent way. "Don't do that," the other children said. "This is the Thakura." The girl, who was from a Muslim family, said, "What do I care for Them?" Within a very short time her feet became infected. The infection spread to her legs and she could not walk properly anymore. She is a grown woman now and you can still see her in the village moving around on her knees. So everyone in the locality is very respectful and a little fearful of Lord Jagannatha.
Heavy Punishment
There was a thief who sometimes used to come to the temple and steal whatever he could. Even though he was warned again and again by his friends that this Deity of Jagannatha is very powerful and intolerant of any bad behaviour, still he continued.One night he was captured while robbing a house and the locals chopped his hand off. When the police arrived to arrest him, in his pitiable condition he made a plea. "I know why this has happened to me. Before you take me to the jail please take me to Jagannatha's temple, so that I may beg forgiveness from Him!"
None of Lord Jagannatha's Property is Insignificant
An old man from this village told this story to the pujarl. When he was a young boy, he was herding cows through the Jagannatha Mandir. At that time the temple was in ruins so there were many bricks strewn around the temple. Just for fun he took a brick, broke it with his stick, and threw it out. That night he couldn't sleep. The whole night he was constantly hearing a voice saying, "Why did you throw the brick out of My temple?" The next day he retrieved the brick and put it back from where he had taken it. Only then, the old man said, did he have peace.
The Lord Speaks Through His Devotee
This story was told by Srila Prabhupada's godbrother, Srila Damodara Maharaja. He relates, " I was having darsana of Lord Jagannatha (this was at the old temple) when the pujarl brought the bhoga offering." Having been a pujarl at the Yogapith for many years, Maharaja noticed that the bhoga plate was not covered and that there were dogs around. He also saw that something fell into the bhoga plate as the pujarl was passing through the door. Damodara Maharaja didn't say anything about it, but later in the day an old lady dressed in white came and started to chastise that pujarl severely, "Why are you offering something impure to Lord Jagannatha? Why you are not covering the bhoga plate with a cloth. You have to be more careful in the future!"Maharaja was surprised and wondered how she could have known, for he had been alone; there was no one else around at that time! Then he added that one should always be respectful to everyone in the dhama, for it's not so easy to discern who is a great devotee.
Offense to Maha-prasadam
Lord Jagannatha is very popular here. He is known as a very powerful Deity amongst all the different villages in this area. About 25 years ago, on sndna-yatra day, a riksha driver took some kichari prasadam while at the temple, and also took some for his friend, who was a Muslim. But his friend threw it on the ground and said, "I don't eat food that has been offered to idols!"
That night in his dream, the friend saw that Lord Balarama was sitting on him, strangling him, beating him like anything, and saying, "Don't you know that My brother is worshipped by honoring his maha-prasadam, and you dared to throw it on the ground?! I will kill you!" The man was very fearful. Subhadra was there too. She was laughing and saying, "Kill him, kill him!" Lord Jagannatha was there and He was also laughing, but He said, "No, no, no, don't kill him." The next day this Muslim came very humbly before the Deity and offered worship to Lord Jagannatha. He narrated his story and also asked for some maha-prasadam. But there was nothing left. "There must be something," he pleaded. So the pujarl went and searched the pots and found a little, which the man happily accepted.
JAGANNATHA RESOLVES A DILEMMA
These pastimes have occurred since ISKCON accepted the responsibility of caring for the Temple
When ISKCON first acquired the temple there was no facility for cooking, so we would cook extra at Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir and the pujarl would take it in a tiffin carrier by bicycle to the Jagannatha Mandir. One day after making the raja-bhoga plate, he realized that he had forgotten to bring tulasl leaves. At that time the old temple was in a very dilapidated condition. The doors could not be shut properly. So he thought to himself, "If I go and pick tulasl then maybe some children would come inside or worse still may be a dog would come in. He was in a dilemma: what to do? But seeing how it was time for the Lord to eat, he told Lord Jagannatha, "Dear Lord, I know that You say that You don't accept any food offerings without tulasl, but please understand the situation and accept this offering anyway." He then made the offering to Lord Jagannatha and went outside to chant the Gayatri mantra. When it came time for the arati, he opened the doors and was about to remove the plate of prasadam, when to his great surprise he saw a ten inch branch of tulasl leaves sticking out of the mound of rice! Jagannatha Swami kijaya! Tulasl maharani ki jaya!
"They have nice prasadam down there..."
This story was told by His Holiness Jayapataka Maharaja. When ISKCON was first given this temple and land, there were many joint owners and most of them had already signed it over to us. However, Jayapataka Maharaja stressed that he didn't want full worship to begin until the remaining persons had signed the deeds. Unknown to him, the pujarl was already offering bhoga that had been brought up from Radha Madhava's kitchen in Mayapur. So upon hearing this instruction, he stopped the offerings. But that night he dreamed that when he was going to wake the Deities', he found They were not there—they were gone! Frantically running outside he spotted them walking across the fields. "Jagannatha, Baladeva, Subhadra!" he shouted, "Where are You going?"
"You are not feeding us, so we are going to Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir," They replied. "They have nice prasadam. down there. Lot's of prasadam.'"
Of course when Jayapataka Maharaja heard about this dream he said, "T didn't know that you were already making offerings otherwise I never would have told you to stop. I just wanted to make sure the temple was ISKCON's before establishing a high standard of worship, but now immediately continue the offerings."
Now we are feeding Lord Jagannatha very opulently with over twenty items for raja bhoga, so we hope He is satisfied and will never leave. Actually, it's an interesting story how we started to offer chappan bhoga. Just after this new temple was constructed we invited some cooks from the Jagannatha temple in Puri to come and teach us how to make the kind of preparations that they offer there. Our devotees learned very nicely, so much so that it is now an internationally acclaimed cuisine!
Sojananivasa Prabhu, the head pujarl of Mayapur temple, wanted to offer chappan bhoga every day, but the temple just didn't have sufficient funds. Regardless, he decided to start anyway. He went before the Deities and told Them, "We are going to offer You chappan bhoga for one month beginning from this purnimd, and if You want us to continue it, then You kindly make some arrangement!" The first day, he took some guests to take the mahd-prasddam and when he explained about his desire, one guest immediately offered to sponsor the next month. Upon returning to Mayapur he was telling one devotee about what had happened and she in turn offered to pay for the next two months. So like that the program has been going on ever since.
To ensure that Lord Jagannatha never goes hungry again we have started a Nitya-seva scheme where devotees and well-wishers give Rs. 25,000/- as a one time donation, which is kept in a corpus fund and interest provides for one day's seva. We are happy to announce that we have received a very good response to this program.
Lord Jagannatha Goes for Walks
Before ISKCON built the present temple, the old temple was buried under a tree that was a combined banyan and peepul tree. The local people say that Lord Jagannatha would go for walks. They never actually saw Him, but they could hear Him, especially on Saturday nights. They would see a glow coming from the temple, a sweet scent would permeate the air, and they could hear jingling sounds, like that of ankle bells. Those fortunate residents understood that the independent Lord was taking a stroll.
Snana-yatra Festival
Snana-yatra, the Lord's bathing festival, takes place fourteen days before Rathayatra. During that fourteen day period the temple remains closed for darsana on the plea that Jagannatha Swami has caught a cold. It is also an opportunity to repaint the Deities. Some say that the reason that Lord Jagannatha feigns sickness is to take a break from the thousands and thousands of people who visit Puri every day, most of whom ask, "Lord Jagannatha, please fulfill my desires, give me this, give me that." So the Lord takes it easy for a couple of weeks, and along with His brother and sister, peacefully enjoys fine sweet preparations and nectar drinks made from cream, molasses, and invigorating herbs.
Actually it is the biggest festival of the year here and it was started by the desire of the Lord Himself. Once a Gaudiya Matha devotee from Purl came to Navadvlpa to visit the birthplace of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Upon arriving, he enquired if there was a temple of Lord Jagannatha in the locality. He was directed to Simantadvlpa, where he came and began to worship these Deities. The same night, in a dream, Lord Jagannatha told the devotee, "They don't give Us much to eat here. At least once in a year We should eat nicely! Our snana-yatra is coming soon; try to arrange a feast for Us."
On this order, the devotee arranged a big feast for the Lord and fed all the devotees the Deities' maha-prasadam. This festival has continued up to present day. When ISKCON took over the management of the temple, it was decided to increase the festival by taking a procession from Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir. Many hundreds of devotees take their bath in the Gariga, fill a clay pot with Gariga-jala, and then proceed to the Jagannatha Mandir, led by our elephant and a klrtana party. As soon as the devotees arrive, the Deities are placed on a marble sndna-vedi, or bathing platform, which is erected in Their garden. The whole area is covered by a pandal to protect all from the hot sun, and hundreds of devotees bathe Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra with Gariga water or milk. This continues for several hours until the Deities go back to Their temple, where They are dressed in the hdti-vesa (elephant dress), and offered a sumptuous feast and ardti ceremony. After ardti, mahd-prasddam kicharl, subji, and sweet rice is served in the mango grove to the many thousands of devotees and visitors who keep arriving, and the serving goes on and on until the darkness of night brings it to a close.
Hati-vesha
Because many people are curious to know why Their Lordships are dressed in elephant costumes, we add this story. Of course anyone you may ask in Purl will give a slight variation—or even a large variation!—on this story:
One time a great devotee of Ganesa was visiting the king of Purl, but was reluctant to visit Lord Jagannatha's temple as his principle was to only worship Sri Ganesa. "Lord Jagannatha is non-different than Lord Visnu, Who is the origin of all devatds" coaxed the king, who finally persuaded him to visit the temple. It was Sndna-yatra day, and as he stood before the Deities he said to Lord Jagannatha, "If You are what they say You are, Daru-brahman (wooden Brahman), then kindly show to me that form of Ganesa, whom I worship." Deciding to bestow His causeless mercy, Lord Jagannatha transformed Himself into the form of Ganesa, to the great astonishment and delight of that devotee.
Jagannatha Sneezes!
Many years ago, there was an English devotee, Gaura Hari Dasa living here. After one Sndna-yatra festival, after everyone had left, they closed the temple, but from inside the closed altar Gaura Hari heard what sounded like someone sneezing. "Oh no!" he thought; "I must be imagining this!" Then again it came, loud and clear:"Ahhh-chuuh!!" So it's confirmed: Jagannatha does catch cold.
Causeless Mercy
Satadhanya Prabhu, a long time devotee of ISKCON Mayapur, recalls how one time, while returning from Krsnanagar, he felt a burning desire for Lord Jagannatha's darsana, which he admitted was unusual for him. He told the driver of the car to drive there quickly as it was almost one o'clock—closing time. As fate would have it he arrived just as the pujari was locking the temple door. Looking at the pujari and then at the door and back to the pujari he asked in a half expectant voice, "Is it possible to have darsana of their Lords?"
"Yes," replied the pujari as he turned and headed for his room. "Come at four o'clock".
Feeling disappointed, Satadhanya thought, "Well,maybe I can see Them through the cracks in the door." (This incident took place before the present temple had been constructed and the previous temple was quite dilapidated). Save for the glint of some jewelry, the Deities were quite indistinguishable in Their dark room. He tried the wooden windows, but they too were locked. Lying on the ground, he tried to see beneath the doors. For fifteen minutes he was trying, but to no avail. Finally he gave up and walked away despondently. A creaking sound made him turn his head, only to see the temple window swinging open. He rushed back to the windows, where daylight flooded into the altar, illuminating the Deities. Jagannatha's fortunate devotee was awarded darsana to his full satisfaction.
Muslim Girl Regains Eyesight
Many years back, when Jagannatha was in His old temple, there was one young Muslim girl from the village who had very poor eyesight. There were no proper eye doctors available then and the family was too poor to take her to Calcutta for proper treatment. The many doctors she did see all said her condition was incurable. Gradually her vision became worse and worse. Finding no other hope her family decided to seek the shelter of Lord Jagannatha. So they brought her to the temple and told her that Lord Jagannatha had helped many people in the past, and that she should pray for His mercy. With complete faith in Jagannatha, she took carandmrta for seven days and miraculously her vision became normal. Until her last days she would say that even though she is quite old she could still see very nicely.
The Magic Lamp
One evening some students came to the temple and they exclaimed to the pujari how they had heard so many wonderful things about these Deities. "So we thought we have to come and see Them." But at that time it was dark; the temple wasn't so opulent in those days and there was only one candle providing light. They could hardly see the Deities in that dim light so they were disappointed. They told the pujdrl that they came a long way to see the Deities but could hardly see. The pujdrl began to offer the ardti and they decided to leave, but the pujdrl called them to come back. After he had offered the panca-pradlpa lamp and placed it on a ledge near the altar, the flame started increasing in size, until they reached nine or ten inches high, giving off a very bright light that illuminated the whole altar. Then the students came back running in and enjoyed a nice darsana.
Marble Thief
Every day during the temple construction, one of the workers would take a slab of marble home. Baladeva appeared to the thief while he was resting and angrily told him, "How dare you steal the marble meant for building Jagannatha's temple! Return it all, or else I will destroy you and your family!" So the next morning the thief shamefully and fearfully returned a cart-load of marble slabs.
"Such a nice brooch!"
Some years after the temple was given to ISKCON, a devotee family moved here. The father's name was Sadhana Siddhi Prabhu. One day, his young son Dalim, came running to his mother crying hysterically. She asked, "What's the matter, what's the matter?!" After he calmed down he told her, "I went to the temple and I saw that Subhadra was wearing a lovely brooch. I wanted to have it, so I went in to take it, but just as I was about to take it from Her, then," he began to sob, "Lord Balarama swung His arm around slapped my face and sent me tumbling out of the room."
Caranamrita Cure
Some years ago, Hrday, the eldest son of Prangopal Prabhu (Lord Jagannatha's cook), became so sick that when his father tried to admit him to the local hospital, the doctors told him that the boy was dying and there was no use admitting him. They told Prangopal to either take him home or to Calcutta. Prangopal replied that if the boy was going to die, then better he dies here as they couldn't afford to take him to Calcutta anyway. Reluctantly, the doctors admitted Hrday. After admitting his son, Prangopal came to temple, cooked for Lord Jagannatha, took some caranamrta, tulasi leaves, and flowers from Jagannatha's lotus feet, and prayed to Him, "If at all my son has to die in the hospital, at least give him some good destination." He then returned to the hospital and without anybody's knowledge, put the flowers and tulasi under Hrday's pillow and gave him caranamrta. The next day when Prangopal went to the hospital, he found Hrday healthy. The doctors told him that it was a miraculous recovery and he could take his son back soon. By Jagannatha's mercy, Prangopal Prabhu brought his healthy son back home the next morning.
Jagannatha Arranges a Marriage
There was one lady from a cobbler family named Krsna. She was over forty years old and would come to the temple every day. She wore tilaka, took prasadam, and even performed Ekadasl. She was still not married, so she sincerely prayed to Jagannatha to make some arrangement for her marriage. Thus after some time she got married to a very wealthy man. Now she has two servants and her husband tells her that she need do nothing else other than cook for the Lord. Previously she was so poor that she was working in someone else's house for a little money. After her marriage she came to the temple and told the pujari that now, by Jagannatha's arrangement, she is married and leading a peaceful life which she thought never deserved. "Surely you will get married!"
There was another similar incident where an unmarried woman used to come to visit the temple. Many of us in the temple know her. She once came during the afternoon, and as the curtain for Jagannatha's altar was closed, she thought that was nobody there. Thus she spoke aloud, "Jagannatha, will I not get married?" Hearing this, the pujari, who was inside the altar replied "Yes, surely you will get married." The woman was simultaneously shy and happy to hear this. She had faith that since the voice came from the altar, it was auspicious. She was 35-40 years of age and no one thought she could get married at that age, but by Jagannatha's mercy, even though she was very poor, she was married to a man from a wealthy family near Rajapur. She is happy now and still comes to the temple.
Jagannatha Cures a Child
There was a girl named Hemalata who from birth was suffering from anaemia. No treatment was working. The family happened to move to Jagannatha Mandir. After just three days of taking Jagannatha's prasada, the child became cured from anaemia and was completely healthy. She never had to take any further treatment.
Prahlad, the Temple Guard
In the year 1982, on Balarama Jayanti, a nice festival was held in honor of Lord Balarama. After the program at midday, the temple manager, Sri Svarupa Damodara Prabhu, gave guard Prahlad a pot of mahd-prasddam from the Lord. Instead of honoring the prasddam immediately, he dozed off for a while. When he woke up he found the pot lying next to him—empty. A dog had come by while he slept and eaten the mahd-prasddam.
Understanding his mistake, Prahlad immediately begged forgiveness from 'Bhagavan'. But in his mind he knew that some punishment was coming for his carelessness.The next day, he came for his night patrol, but at about one a.m. he fell asleep. He saw that Lord Jagannatha was speaking from the window: "You have not honored My prasadam, you will have to take some punishment for this." He then caught hold of Prahlad's neck and sitting on his chest, He began to strangle him saying, "There is no other way for you than death!" Jagannatha was very angry. Prahlad recalls, "I was choking and not able to speak any more, I was praying to Him internally, 'My Lord, I know I am an offender, but please forgive me.'" But Jagannatha said, "No! this aparadha has no forgiveness. You have disregarded Lord Balarama's mahd-prasddam. You know that the devotee of the Lord is greater than the Lord Himself. You will have to accept this punishment."
Then Subhadra Devi said to the Lord, "My dear brother, what are you doing? Please stop it." But Jagannatha was riot listening to Her. She appealed to Jagannatha again and again. Then She appealed to Lord Baladeva, "This person is a devotee, he made a mistake, and he is begging forgiveness. Please ask our brother to stop and not kill him for such an offense. Why is He so angry?" Baladeva was only smiling and did not say anything.
Prahlad says, "Jagannatha was still very angry and did not leave my neck, this was going on for almost seven or eight minutes. My tongue was coming out. Still internally I was praying, 'Lord, please protect me. There is no one except You who can free me from this sin.' Subhadra Devi could see that I was about to lose my life, so She took Baladeva by His hand and said, 'Please stop our brother.' Then Baladeva took Jagannatha by His hands and spoke: What are you doing? He has committed a sin, but why such a heavy punishment!' They were speaking like this. And then Lord Baladeva pulled Lord Jagannatha off my body.
"Sweating like anything, I sat up and started to pray for protection. Then Lord Jagannatha instructed me with ten rules and regulations, 'You will do all this for the temple,' He said. After this He left and I stood up and went to the pump and straight away drank so much water. Then I was meditating on this mercy of Lord Jagannatha."
Five of the instructions were:
1) If any person comes with some dust or seed or anything from this place, and says that it is mahd-prasddam, you must accept it. Even if you die, whatever happens to you, I will take care of that.
2) If anybody takes intoxication, gambles, or plays frivolous music, then you must stop him. If they do not listen, then with all force you must try to stop them and I will provide you with all necessary strength.
3) You will never smoke or commit any illicit act on your own.
4) You should not look at any other women with lust.Regard them as your sister or mother. If you see anyone disrespecting any mataji within the campus, then raise your voice against it.
5) If any one steals any property which belongs to the temple, such as bricks, wood, flowers etc., then try to stop that person.
Prahlad added, "The other five are personal, I cannot tell you. From that time onwards and even now, I can still understand in my heart, when I see the Lord, if He is angry or if He is pleased with me. If I have to go somewhere for some family work, I first come to take darsana of Jagannatha, and He lets me know if it will be good or harmful for me."
Stranger In The Night
The same guard was once sitting in one of the mango trees in the orchards at night. There were snakes around and other dangerous things around, so he had climbed up high. Then one person came through the mango orchard and passed by Prahlad walking towards the temple. This person was dressed very nicely, and his hair was well-groomed with scented oil. The guard was very surprised that such a gentleman was walking in the middle of the night through the fields. A little later Prahlad heard the sound of a roaring kirtana. It was late but the sound was coming from the temple. Bells were ringing and ladies were ululating. He told us that this person could have been a demigod, because the temple was actually locked and there was nobody there at that time.
"Where are Our blankets?"
The nights had been increasingly cold, and we hadn't started offering chadars to the Deities. Odana-sasthi is the day when we offer the Deities starched cloth, and this day marks the beginning of winter. This story happened before Odana-sasthi, but still it was cold. The pujarl had a dream that someone was banging on the door while he was sleeping. So he got up and opened the door and he saw the small Deities of Jagannatha, Subhadra, and Balarama lying on their backs on the ground. They were shivering and They asked him, "Why are you not offering us blankets? You have one, what about us? You are sleeping very nicely under your quilt. Don't you think we feel cold?"
"I like you doing My puja!"
Another time, the pujarl was very sick with fever, and as he was putting the Deities to rest for the afternoon, he thought to himself, "I am not going to wake the Deities at four o'clock. I am too sick." So he went and told the guard, "I am going to take rest, I have a fever and 1 won't be doing my service at four. So please don't wake me up." While he was sleeping Jagannatha appeared in his dream and said, "Why are you not doing our puja?"
The pujarl said, "I am very sick with fever and feeling very weak."
Jagannatha said, "You are not too sick to perform klrtana or take prasadam, but for a little fever you want to stop Our service."
The pujari awoke abruptly, but feeling too exhausted he again went to sleep, only to be awakened by the guard banging on the door, "Wake up! It's time to wake the Deities!" "There are just too many omens," he thought. "I have to wake Them up." So he came to the Deity room and as he started waking up the Deities, Lord Jagannatha said to him, "Actually I like you to do My puja, because this other pujarl is not very careful, sometimes he sticks pins in Me. If you look under My chadar you will see." The pujarl lifted up His chadar and on Lord Jagannatha's arm he saw a spot of blood. Another time while the pujarl was dressing the Deities, he was putting necklaces on Jagannatha. He had placed three around the Lord's neck, but the fourth fell to the ground. He picked it up and put it on Jagannatha and again it fell down. Again he picked it up and put it on, but again it fell down. When he tried again, Lord Jagannatha said, "Don't you understand? Three is enough: I don't want anymore!"
He Is So Greedy!
The same pujari told us that shortly after we put a Govardhana slla on the altar, Lord Jagannatha appeared to him in a dream and started complaining in his dream: "That Govardhana slla, He is so greedy you know—He eats everything and He is very quick. He doesn't even wait until it is offered. As soon as the pujarl comes in, He starts eating and He especially likes the sweets. Please do something!"
So now the pujarls have arranged a separate plate for Giri Govardhana.
"Don't touch me with that finger!"
Another time the pujarl told Jananivasa Prabhu that in a dream he was putting the little Deities to rest in bed. So while he was carrying the Deities he had his two forefingers on Lord Jagannatha's eye. Lord Jagannatha said, "Don't touch Me with that finger, this is considered muchi finger, pointing, cursing finger. Don't touch me with that finger, don't do that." Awakening from that unusual dream he began to follow the instruction of the Lord but after sometime he slipped back to his old habits. Then one day he was carrying the little Deities to Their bed and he was doing the same thing. And the Lord then held out His hand extending His forefinger and said, "I have told you, don't touch Me with that finger." So Jananivasa questioned, "How can He show His finger? He doesn't have any hands." This pujdrl immediately and emphatically replied, "Yes, He has, I have seen. I have seen!"
Water in Jagannatha's Milk
One time the milkman was talking to the guard, Prahlad, and complaining that he has so much bad luck. "Every day before I reach the market my milk spoils. Seven days in a row, 40 litres of my milk would spoil." Prahlad asked him, "Do you put water in the milk that you give to Jagannatha? Tell me honestly."
Feeling embarrassed and looking down he confessed, "This is our practice, our business!" "May be that's the reason why," Prahlad said. The next morning, he didn't add any water to Jagannatha's milk. From then on, his milk didn't spoil.
Lord Jagannatha Provides Everything
One morning on entering the kitchen the cook saw that there were no coconuts, which is an essential item for cooking Lord Jagannatha's bhoga. Coconut is used in vegetable preparations as well as in dhal and sweets. "How can I go to the market, I don't have time! But how can I cook without coconut? Oh Jagannatha what am I to do?"
Just then a guest came and handed three big coconuts to the pUjdrl and asked him to offer to Lord Jagannatha. Jai Jagannatha. You immediately arranged to relieve your devotee's anxiety.
Shoes Inside the Temple!
A rich man once visited the temple. It was crowded and he became worried that his fancy shoes might get stolen. So he stuck his shoes in his belt, covered himself with his shawl, and entered the temple. As he bent to offer obeisances, his backbone cracked and he was no longer able to stand straight. Despite undergoing much treatment he never got cured. The next time he visited Jagannatha, he admitted that this happened to him as a result of the offense he committed.
Pastimes Since the Year 2000
"We will make you better!"
One devotee named Manjarl Devi DasI was blessed to have had the mercy of Lord Jagannatha. She says, "I was very sick with jaundice and came here to rest and recover. I had dark purple rings under my eyes indicating how sick I was. Seeing these dark rings was making me miserable; at times I would cry in fear that I would be sent back to the west as I just was not getting better. But on the fourth morning, I was putting on tilaka as usual and to my amazement I saw that the purple rings under my eyes had completely vanished. I was elated and went for darsana of the Deities. The pujdrl opened the curtains. I looked at the Deities to behold Their beautiful forms and simply froze in complete shock and astonishment. Both Lord Jagannatha and Baladeva were wearing dark purple beads hanging down from their turbans, going across Their foreheada and under Their eyes exactly where I had the dark purple rings under my eyes. I then heard Lord Balarama telling me, "It's all right Manjari, We will make you better."
Golden Tulasi Leaf
Just before Gaura-purnimd 2006, a family came to the temple tp offer a golden Tulasi leaf to Jagannatha. When the pujdri asked the reason for their offering, the man told him that although he and his wife had been married for over ten years, they were not able to have any children even after worshipping many demigods and undergoing various medical treatments. Finally some of their relatives told them that Lord Jagannatha in Rajapur is very lively and powerful. So both husband and wife came and prayed to Jagannatha that if He blessed them with a child they would offer Him a golden Tulasi leaf. Lo and behold, within a year or so they had a very nice7 baby boy! Along with the child they came to offer the golden Tulasi leaf and asked the pujdrl to place it on Jagannatha's forehead. The family stayed in the temple the whole day and took'prasddam. They expressed to the pujdrl their amazement at Jagannatha's power that within such a short time they got their desired result.
"Please make their eyes shine like a mirror!"
A poor local Muslim couple had a son and daughter who were both born almost blind. They spent around 40,000 rupees in various treatments and even sold whatever little land they had. But nothing worked. Finally two eye specialists certified that it was 75% sure that the children would never be able to see. The parents were feeling very frustrated that all their efforts for their children had failed and they had even lost their little property. In this kind of situation it is quite natural for one to take shelter of God.
So in autumn 2005, the couple took shelter of Lord Jagannatha and offered prayers to Him. They submitted their sad story and begged for His mercy. The mother sincerely prayed, "If my children get their eyesight back I will offer You a mirror. Please You make our children's vision as clear as a mirror." (This is a Bengali tradition.) Within a few short days of hearing their sincere prayer the merciful Lord Jagannatha gave vision to those blind children. Upon waking up, the children excitedly exclaimed to their parents that they could now see and walk without any help! The parents joyfully observed this change, and later the grandmother came and offered a small mirror to Jagannatha. They told us that this Jagannatha is so powerful and very fast in fulfilling the desires of the devotees. Jagannatha had made the impossible possible within a very short time.
The following pastimes were narrated by Jananivasa Dasa on Odana-sashthi 06
Jagannatha Does Get Fever
In June 2005, two days after sndna-yatra, the head pujdrl from Mayapur came to the Jagannatha temple in Rajapur to repaint the Deities. While he painted under their bases, the Deities were laid on Their backs on warm bedding, and left in that position overnight to dry. At midnight the pujdrl awoke feeling a burning sensation throughout his body, which he thought may have come from drinking Lord Jagannatha's medicine, called Brahmastra; he also felt fearful, which was very unusual for him. Thinking he may have caused an aparddha by laying the Deities down, he read from Bhagavad-gitd for some time.In the morning the night guard reported that when he went to check the temple area he heard what sounded like the moaning and groaning of someone with a high fever coming from within the temple. He walked around the other side of the temple and from the open window he heard the same distressful sounds. The guard said he became afraid and ran away. Locking the garden gate behind him, he returned to the guesthouse where the devotees stay. When asked what time this had occurred, he replied, "At midnight!"
"Jaga Jaga Jaga Jaga..."
A couple of weeks ago when I was here, Bhadrasen Prabhu, Lord Jagannatha's pujdrl, told me that just before we arrived, there was another couple here with their child. They tried to conceive a child for a long time but were unsuccessful. About three years ago, when they heard about Jagannatha here, they came and did some puja with the expectation of having a son. This time they came back with their son; he was about two years old, just learning to speak.
They came to Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir and showed him to Radha-Madhava, and he was saying,"Jaga jaga jaga jaga." They asked him, "Are you happy?" He said, "No." They took him to Panca-tattva, and he kept saying, "Jaga jaga jaga jaga." They said, "Are you happy?" and he again said. "No." Then they brought him here to Jagannatha Mandir and he saw Jagannatha and said, "Jaga Jaga Jaga Jaga!" They asked him, "Are you happy?" "Yes," he said. "Happy now." Jai Jagannatha!
"Mayapur! Mayapur!"
Two or three weeks before that, another couple were here with their son. Pandav Pran, the temple manager,asked them, "Where are you from?"
"We come from Durgapur," they replied.
"You are coming a long way!" Pandav Pran exclaimed.
"Yes," the lady replied. "Let me tell you why..."
She then told Pandav Pran: "I had for a long time desired to go to Puri, but no one could take me. I was really despondent. I was dreaming about it, I was crying, I really wanted to go to Puri. Then I had a dream at the end of the night where I was trying to go Purl and suddenly I saw Radha Madhava. Your Radha Madhava. Then I heard this voice saying, 'Mayapur, Mayapur, Mayapur!' I woke up; my hairs were standing on end. I told my son, 'We have to go to Mayapur.'"
So they came to Mayapur and took darsana of Radha Madhava. They didn't know that there was Jagannatha Temple here. But some devotees told them, "You can go to our Jagannatha Mandir." Then they came here and found out that this place is non-different from Jagannatha Puri. The lady said, "It was the fulfillment of my dream. I wanted to go to Puri but no one would take me. But by the mercy of Lord Jagannatha I have come here."
Jagannatha Protects His Devotees
Once very recently a man and his wife were coming to attend mangala-drati at Jagannatha Mandir. The husband was carrying a torch but as it was getting late, the wife, Visakha, ran ahead in the dark. As she was passing under the banyan tree next to Lord Jagannatha's boundary wall, there came a bright light and a loud voice commanding her to stop. Looking ahead she saw a tall, bare-chested man shining a torch on the ground in front of her.
Looking down, she gasped as she saw that she was about to step on a huge, venomous cobra that was lying in her path. She quickly stepped back and the snake slithered away. Her husband arrived to see the snake just as it disappeared. He also saw the tall dark man leaving without saying a word. The couple could understand that Lord Jagannatha had sent the man to save Visakha, otherwise no one is on the road at that time of the morning.
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