Rashtra-devata inside a TREE
Updated On: 23 July, 2023 07:03 AM IST | Mumbai | Devdutt Pattanaik
This is the reason why the three statues currently worshipped in Jagannath Puri, considered the rashtra-devata (state god) of Odisha, appear incomplete even today
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Illustration/Devdutt Pattanaik
A king’s dream about a god in a tree connects Manipur and Sri Lanka with Odisha.
Skanda Purana tells the story, which is at least 500 years old. A long time ago, a log of wood was found floating on the shores of the sea near Puri, where the temple of Jagannath now stands. The local king, who was looking for a suitable image to be enshrined in the temple he had built, In a dream, he was told to carve images of Purushottama from this mysterious log of wood. No artisan was able to do so.
Finally, an old artisan told the king that he could carve the statue, provided he was allowed to do it in private and no one should disturb him. The carving went on for many days. But when the king heard no sound coming from within the artisan’s workshop, he impatiently opened the door and found no sign of the artisan within, but three incomplete images instead. This is the reason why the three statues currently worshipped in Jagannath Puri, considered the rashtra-devata (state god) of Odisha, appear incomplete even today.
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