Stories of Jagannatha

Several brahmanas from a local village felt that they could offer a higher standard of worship to Lord Jagannatha and wanted to worship Him in their own village. Therefore, one day they came and stole Lord Jagannatha.

While they were carrying the Lord through the fields, suddenly everyone felt a “call of nature,” so they set Lord Jagannatha down and went to relieve themselves. When they returned, they could no longer lift Lord Jagannatha, so they had to go get more men to help. However, even then they could not move the Lord at all.

Then they realized that He did not want to leave Rajapur. So they returned to the temple and sorrowfully said to the priests: “Your Deity is in the fields and wants to return back.” Two pujaris went and carried Him back home.