Jai Sriman Narayana !!
Brahma Vaivarta Puranam describes the origin of Purushothama Kshetram (Puri - Jaganthana Kshetram) . In Sathya Yuga there was a king named Indradhyumna who ruled the Kingdom of Malwa, The Capital of Avanti. Indiradhyumna was a great ruler, learned scholar of Vedas and Sastras and a deep devotee of Lord Vishnu.
Indraduymna's Kingdom was flourished with wealth and rich in natural beauty. The trade in this city was excellent. People were happy. The Yagnas and Yagas took place quite often. The Kingdom captivated all the natural wealth. There were many temples in the city of Avanti. There was a temple for Lord Shiva - ' Mahakala' Temple. Worshipping Lord Shiva in this sacred temple is equivalent to performing one thousand Ashwamedha Yagams. On the river banks of Kshipra, there were temples for Lord Vishnu - Govinda Swamy Temple and Vikrama Swamy Temple.
King Indradyumna desired to build a temple for Lord Vishnu. This lead him to search for an apt place in the whole of Avanti. He left the city with all his soldiers to find a suitable place for the construction of the temple. After many days of searching, they reached the shores of the Southern ocean - Lavana Samudram.
He lived on the shores of the Lavana Samudram and located a place for the construction of the temple of Lord Vishnu - Purushothama Kshetram (Puri). The ocean holds all types of wealth of precious jewels and variety of species of water animals. On the shores of this ocean, there was a beautiful forest bearing all kinds of trees, fruits and flowers. King Indradhyumna chose this sacred land as the place for the construction of Temple for Lord Purushothama.
The place selected to build an temple by King Indradhyumna was previously the abode of Lord Vishnu. The people who worshipped here were freed from the clutches of Lord Yama. So the people came to worship here to wash off their sins and got freed from the punishments of Lord Yama. Thereby, all the sinners saved themselves by the mere Dharshan of Lord Vishnu. Lord Yama desperately approached Lord Vishnu to find a solution for this serious issue. Lord Vishnu hid Himself under the sands of the ocean bank. In this way, Lord Vishnu re-established the righteousness in the land.
The people who lived in the vicinity of the river Mahanadi and Kshipra were truly religious. King Indradhyumna decided this was the most suitable to build a Temple for Lord Vishnu. On one of the auspicious days, the foundation stone was laid. The neighbouring Kings of Koshala, Kalinga, Utakala all were provided wealth and artisans to fetch stone from Vindyachala Parvatham. Several thousands of men were engaged in the work of bringing the stones and the architectural work.
King Indradhyumna performed Ashwamedha Yagam in this sacred land with the help of the neighbouring kings. The objects for the Yagam flowed into this land in the form of Gold, jewels, Precious Stones, elegant clothes, wealth, Food Grains etc...All the Yagna utensils were made of gold. Brahmins from all over the Jambudhwipa arrived to witness the Yagam. The Brahmins received alms in the form of Horses, Elephants and Cows. Everyone praised King Indradhyumna that no one had performed such a Yagam in this very land of Purushothama Kshetram ( Puri) .
The construction of the temple lead to fast pace. One big question remained in the heart of King Indradhyumna - Sancrosanct image of the diety. The King prayed to Lord Vishnu . Lord Vishnu appeared in his dream and instructed him that there was a tree on the shores of the ocean, half of it was under the Sand and the remaining portion in the water. This tree could be used to build the Image.
The very next morning, the King arrived at this place with his men and found the tree. The King's men chopped down the tree and when they began to slice down the trunk, there appeared two Brahmins. The two Brahmins were none other than Lord Vishnu and Vishwakarma. One Brahmin introduced to the King the other as Vishwakarma, he could carve out the image in no time. Under the instruction of the other Brahmin, the Vishwakarma started his excellent work of carving the images of Lord Krishna, Lord Balarama and Subadra.
The first carved out was the image of Balarama - white in complexion, eyes are blue, dressed in Blue, and a snake held as a hood over his head, club and mace in hand. The second image was - Lord Krishna - His complexion was blue in Colour, Lotus shaped eyes, dressed in Yellow and holding a Chakra in his hand. The third image was Subadra (Sister of Krishna) - Her complexion was Golden in colour, dressed in beautiful elegant clothes. All three images got ready in no time. King Indradhyumna got thunder struck.
King Indradyumna fell on the feet of the two Brahmins, realising that they were not mere mortals. Lord Vishnu and Vishwakarma revealed their real forms and blessed the King.
This is the Temple known as today's Puri Jagannatha Kshetram - Purushothama Kshetram.
Jai Sriman Narayana !!
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