9. Tulasidas visits Lord Jagannath It's said that while reading through the Ramayana composed by the sage Valmiki, Tulasidas, the famous North Indian poet of the 16th century, came across a verse wherein Lord Ramachandra instructs Ravan's younger brother Vibhishan: kim canyad vaktum icchami raksasendra mahabala aradhaya jagannatham iksväku-kula daivatam O mighty ruler of the raksasas, there is one more thing I wish to say to you. Worship Lord Jagannath, the Lord of the lkshvaku dynastу. Hearing this, Tulasidas developed a great desire to have darsana of Lord Jagannath, and he set out from Kashi (Benares), walking the great distance to Puri. There is a place known as Tulasi Sarovar in Orissa between Cuttack and Bhubaneswar where Tulasidas is said to have taken rest in the night. He again stopped at the village of Dunda Sahi on the northern bank of the river Bhargavi, just a few miles from Puri. In memory of his brief stay there, the villagers installed a deity of Hanuman, who is still there today. Arriving at Jagannath's temple in Puri, he went inside to offer his obeisances to the Lord. A great devotee of Lord Ramachandra, Tulasi was disappointed to see the forms of Jagannath, Baladev, and Subhadra, with no apparent sign of his beloved Lord Rama. With a heavy heart, Tulasidas left the temple without taking any food or drink and walked about six miles away to a village named Malatipatapur, where he took shelter on a raised platform under a banyan tree near the road. The local tradition describes that while sleeping that night, Tulasidas had a dream. He saw the goddess Lakshmidevi telling Lord Jagannath. "My Lord, no devotee ever leaves Puri without taking prasādam. But Tulasidas left discouraged, didn't honor anything, and is now fasting." Tulasidas saw that Lord Jagannath then took the form of a young boy and came to where Tulasidas was resting. Jagannath asked him, "What have you written in your Sri-rama- carita-manasa about the nature of the absolute truth!" Tulasidas replied: binu pada calai sunai binu kanā kara binu karama karai bidhi nana anana rahita sakala rasa bhogi binu bani bakata bada jogi tana binu parasa nayana binu dekha grahai ghräna binu bäsa asesä asi saba bhanti alaukika karani mahima jäsu jäi nahın barani "He walks without feet, hears without ears, and performs his many actions even without hands. He enjoys all tastes without a mouth and is the most clever speaker even though devoid of a tongue. He touches without a body, sees without eyes, and smells all without a nose. His activities are so wonderful that they are beyond all the descriptions." The Lord then said, "Isn't this the form of Jagannath you have seen in the temple!" Tulasidas immediately woke up. For the rest of the night he chanted the holy name of Rama. Early the next morning he ran all the way to Sri Mandir, contemplating the dream. This time when he entered the temple, Tulasidas saw Rama and Lakshman with Sita sitting between them. Tulasidas then heard the voice of the Lord, "O saint! Behold He whom you consider to be different from Rama! We are the same. For those who want to see me in that way, I posess hands, legs, ears, eyes, nose, and mouth. I take the form in which my devotee desires to see me. The Bhagavatam (19.11) states: yad yad-dhiya ta urugaya vibhavayanti tat-tad-vapuh pranayase sad-anugrahaya O my Lord, You are so merciful to Your devotees that You manifest Yourself in the particular eternal form of transcendence in which they always think of You. Tulasidas realized his fault, and became so emotional that he could not control himself. Tears rolled down his cheeks, as he bowed down with deep reverence and sang the glories of the Lord. Tulasidas then returned to the place where he had the dream of Jagannath. According to the local tradition, seeing the flag of Lord Jagannath's temple, he sang hari sabde majja răma šabde majja tulasi mancase dekha jagabandhuka dhvaja dhvaja daršana sakala papa hare candramukha darsana jivane prana bhare Please recite the holy names of Rama and Hari! Tulasi sees the flag of the Jagannath temple, by viewing which one can be free from all sins. Seeing the moonlike face of the Lord one can enjoy eternal bliss. That place later became known as Tulasi Chouwara. Again a deity of Hanuman was installed in that place to commemorate Tulasidas' visit. That deity, along with the tulasi pillar that is said to have decorated that village courtyard when Tulasi Das first visited there, are still worshiped in a small temple in Tulasi Chouwara. A temple was later constructed at the place in Puri where Tulasidas stayed during his visit to the Jagannath temple, known now as Siddha Hanuman or Siddha Mahavir. The local tradition states that this is the place where Hanuman came to stay after Lord Ramachandra left this world. The temple is still present today and is located about half a mile north-east of the Gundicha temple, off the Puri-Konark road. The Siddha Hanuman temple is considered to be one of the asta-mahavira mandiras, the eight most important Hanuman temples in Puri. The deity of Hanuman there is very beautifully carved. He is about 6 feet high, holds a club in his left hand and the mountain Gandhamadan in his right. Around the deity are smaller figures which are considered to be Sugriv, Jambavan, Bali, Angad, and other associates of Hanuman

 9. Tulasidas visits Lord Jagannath 

It's said that while reading through the Ramayana composed by the sage Valmiki, Tulasidas, the famous North Indian poet of the 16th century, came across a verse wherein Lord Ramachandra instructs Ravan's younger brother Vibhishan:

kim canyad vaktum icchami raksasendra mahabala 

aradhaya jagannatham iksväku-kula daivatam

O mighty ruler of the raksasas, there is one more thing I wish to say to you. Worship Lord Jagannath, the Lord of the lkshvaku dynastу.

Hearing this, Tulasidas developed a great desire to have darsana of Lord Jagannath, and he set out from Kashi (Benares), walking the great distance to Puri. There is a place known as Tulasi Sarovar in Orissa between Cuttack and Bhubaneswar where Tulasidas is said to have taken rest in the night. He again stopped at the village of Dunda Sahi on the northern bank of the river Bhargavi, just a few miles from Puri. In memory of his brief stay there, the villagers installed a deity of Hanuman, who is still there today. Arriving at Jagannath's temple in Puri, he went inside to offer his obeisances to the Lord. A great devotee of Lord Ramachandra, Tulasi was disappointed to see the forms of Jagannath, Baladev, and Subhadra, with no apparent sign of his beloved Lord Rama. With a heavy heart, Tulasidas left the temple without taking any food or drink and walked about six miles away to a village named Malatipatapur, where he took shelter on a raised platform under a banyan tree near the road.

The local tradition describes that while sleeping that night, Tulasidas had a dream. He saw the goddess Lakshmidevi telling Lord Jagannath. "My Lord, no devotee ever leaves Puri without taking prasādam. But Tulasidas left discouraged, didn't honor anything, and is now fasting." 

Tulasidas saw that Lord Jagannath then took the form of a young boy and came to where Tulasidas was resting. Jagannath asked him, "What have you written in your Sri-rama- carita-manasa about the nature of the absolute truth!"

Tulasidas replied:

binu pada calai sunai binu kanā kara binu karama karai bidhi nana anana rahita sakala rasa bhogib

inu bani bakata bada jogi

tana binu parasa nayana binu dekha grahai ghräna binu bäsa asesä 

asi saba bhanti alaukika karani mahima jäsu jäi nahın barani

"He walks without feet, hears without ears, and performs his many actions even without hands. He enjoys all tastes without a mouth and is the most clever speaker even though devoid of a tongue. He touches without a body, sees without eyes, and smells all without a nose. His activities are so wonderful that they are beyond all the descriptions."

The Lord then said, "Isn't this the form of Jagannath you have seen in the temple!"

Tulasidas immediately woke up. For the rest of the night he chanted the holy name of Rama. Early the next morning he ran all the way to Sri Mandir, contemplating the dream. This time when he entered the temple, Tulasidas saw Rama and Lakshman with Sita sitting between them.

Tulasidas then heard the voice of the Lord, "O saint! Behold He whom you consider to be different from Rama! We are the same. For those who want to see me in that way, I posess hands, legs, ears, eyes, nose, and mouth. I take the form in which my devotee desires to see me.

The Bhagavatam (19.11) states:

yad yad-dhiya ta urugaya vibhavayanti 

tat-tad-vapuh pranayase sad-anugrahaya

O my Lord, You are so merciful to Your devotees that You manifest Yourself in the particular eternal form of transcendence in which they always think of You.

Tulasidas realized his fault, and became so emotional that he could not control himself. Tears rolled down his cheeks, as he bowed down with deep reverence and sang the glories of the Lord. Tulasidas then returned to the place where he had the dream of Jagannath. According to the local tradition, seeing the flag of Lord Jagannath's temple, he sang

hari sabde majja răma šabde majja tulasi mancase dekha jagabandhuka dhvaja

dhvaja daršana sakala papa hare candramukha darsana jivane prana bhare

Please recite the holy names of Rama and Hari! Tulasi sees the flag of the Jagannath temple, by viewing which one can be free from all sins. Seeing the moonlike face of the Lord one can enjoy eternal bliss.

That place later became known as Tulasi Chouwara. Again a deity of Hanuman was installed in that place to commemorate Tulasidas' visit. That deity, along with the tulasi pillar that is said to have decorated that village courtyard when Tulasi Das first visited there, are still worshiped in a small temple in Tulasi Chouwara.

A temple was later constructed at the place in Puri where Tulasidas stayed during his visit to the Jagannath temple, known now as Siddha Hanuman or Siddha Mahavir. The local tradition states that this is the place where Hanuman came to stay after Lord Ramachandra left this world. The temple is still present today and is located about half a mile north-east of the Gundicha temple, off the Puri-Konark road. 

The Siddha Hanuman temple is considered to be one of the asta-mahavira mandiras, the eight most important Hanuman temples in Puri. The deity of Hanuman there is very beautifully carved. He is about 6 feet high, holds a club in his left hand and the mountain Gandhamadan in his right. Around the deity are smaller figures which are considered to be Sugriv, Jambavan, Bali, Angad, and other associates of Hanuman.