- Source: Bisara Mohanty
Bisara Mohanty (Odia: ବିସର ମହାନ୍ତି) was a devotee and historical figure of Jagannath culture, who rescued Daru Brahma (soul stuff) of Lord Jagannath from the river Ganga. He was a contemporary of King Ramachandra Deva I.
Bisara's story
There was a time when the Bengal Sultan's general Kalapahad invaded the Jagannath Temple of Puri and took the idol of Lord Jagannath to destroy it. When he tried to burn the idol, he found a part of the idol, called Daru Brahma, difficult to burn. He threw the remaining part into the river of Ganga. Bisara Mohanty a Vaishnav Karan, followed Kalapahad with the idol from Orissa to Bengal, floated down the stream and rescued the Daru Brahma. He put it inside a mridangam (drum) and secretly brought it to his village Kujang. There he continued worshipping the Daru Brahma with simple offerings. Ramachandra Deva, a new ruler, received a directive from Lord Jagannath in his dream and sent his eldest son Padmanava Pattanaik to Kujang to claim the remains, Padmanav Pattanaik fabricated the new idols of the gods in which the Daru Brahma could reside and performed Nabakalebara in Khordha and carried the newly formed idols to Puri as per the directive of his father. After the renovation of the Jagannath Temple, Puri, Ramachandra Deva placed the idols in the temple. He acknowledged Bisara Mohanty's role and gave him the position of Nayaka (chief) of the Purushottama Kshetra (Puri).
See also
Nabakalebara
Ramachandra Deva I
