Stories of Jagannatha

Once a serious epidemic broke out, very many people fell ill, and some sick people even died.

Lord Jagannatha appeared to a pujari (priest who serves the Deities in the temple, performs rituals, offers food, dresses, bathes them, etc.) in a dream and told him what medicine was needed to treat the disease. So in the morning, the pujari gathered the whole village and ordered them to collect the necessary ingredients for the medicine. However, they could not find one ingredient because it did not grow in their area. Later that day, a small boy came carrying a branch, which he gave to the pujari’s wife, saying: “I brought this for your husband, but he is not here, so I give it to you.”

When the pujari returned and saw the branch, he became very excited and said: “Oh, this is exactly what we needed, this is the last plant required to make the medicine! Who brought this?”. The wife replied: “A very sweet little boy brought it. I don’t think he is from our village, at least I haven’t seen him before.” So, they made the medicine and everyone recovered.

From that day on, Lord Jagannatha gained respect from even non-Hindus.