A pilgrim telling about Sri Purushottama

(Skanda Purana - Purushottama Kshetra Mahatmya - 7)

Jagannath temple, Puri, Puri district, Odisha

• A pilgrim telling about Sri Purushottama: When the king enquired about Lord Jagannatha (as if by the will of God), a certain widely-travelled pilgrim with matted hairs, who was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu, then told about Sri Purushottama where Lord Jagannatha exists in visible form. The place was little-known to others. He said that the extremely holy place of Sri Purushottama is in Odhra desa on the southern sea-shore of Bharata. There is a mountain named Nilagiri surrounded by forests. In the middle of the forest is a Kalpa tree (Huge Banyan tree) extending a krosha whose holy shade dispel sins. To the west of it is a holy pool named Rauhina filled with primordial waters which bestows salvation. On the eastern bank of the pool Lord Jagannatha visibly exists holding conch, discus and club. On the western side the sabaras (hunter community) live in a hermitage known as Sabara Dipika. The place is so holy that heaven dwellers come there every night to worship the Lord. There is also a legend about a crow getting liberated there.

• The pilgrim telling about his own experience of Sri Purushottama: The pilgrim then told about his own personal experience of Sri Purushottama. He said that he had spent a year in that holy forest engaging himself in devotion of the Lord. The place is filled with a supernatural fragrance of heaven-dwellers who come to serve the Lord every night. Prayers are heard in that place and showers of Kalpa trees are seen. Previously he himself was ignorant and stupid. But by the grace of the Lord he is now the master of the eighteen branches of learning. His mind has become free from impurities by serving the Lord. He does not require wealth nor land from the king. He has divulged this secret knowing that the king was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu and steadfast in his devotion. So may the king worship Sridhara there. Saying this the pilgrim vanished.

Bharatavarsha - The Land of Gods and Sages:

• Stotras

• Scriptures

• Pilgrimages - by Groups - by Deities - by States - by Geography

• Sacred Geography - Mountains - Rivers

• Festivals

• Sages - Hermitages - Penances

• Saints - Ramakrishna - Vivekananda - Ramana

• Sadhana

• Sanskrit

• Nature

• Arts and Sciences

• Bharatavarsha - Puranic History - Puranic Lineage