OR CUTTACK. S17 



traditions which prevail, it seems scarcely possible to arrive at any satisfac- 

 tory conclusion on the subject. The accounts given in the writings of the 

 Hindus, more especially the Kapila Sanhita and the Khetr Mahatmya of 

 the temple, are simply as follows, divested of the loads of declamation and 

 repetition which embarrass the perusal of them. From the beginning of all 

 things until the expiration of the first half of the age of Brahma, Parames- 

 wara, Sri Bhagwan, or Jagannath, in other words Vishnu, dwelt on the Ni- 

 lachalin Utkala Desa, in the form of Nil Madhava. The fame of this form 

 of the deity having reached the Court of Indradyumna, Maharaja of Avanti 

 or Oujein, an eminently devout and pious prince in the Satya Yuga, he con- 

 ceived a desire to perform worship at the sacred shrine, and accordingly 

 set out on a journey to Orissa with a large army, after having first dispatched 

 a brahmin to make inquiry. Just as he reached the spot on the expiration 

 of a three months' journey, it was reported to him that the image of Nil Ma. 

 dhava had disappeared from the face of the earth. The Raja was over- 

 whelmed with disappointment at this intelligence, and fell into a state of the 

 deepest melancholy and affliction until comforted in a dream by the deity, 

 who informed him that although he had abandoned his former shape, he 

 would soon reappear again, (or that a fresh Avatar would take place), in a 

 still more sacred form, that of the Dam Brahm which would remain to 

 all ages. Shortly after, the Maharaja was apprized that a Darn,* or log of 

 wood of the Nim tree (Melia Azadirachta) was to be seen floating to the 

 shores of Pursottem Chetr from the quarter of the Sitadwip island, adorn- 

 ed with the Sankha, Gada, Padma, Chakr, or several emblems of Vish- 

 nu, viz. the conch shell, mace, lotus and discus, and bearing a most 

 divine and beautiful appearance. Transported with joy the pious prince 

 ran to the sea shore, embraced the sacred log, which he was satisfied from 

 the above symptoms must be a real form of Vishnu, and proceeded to de- 

 posit it with great ceremony in a consecrated enclosure. He then through 



* Some accounts say that the Maharaja had first lo perform a hundred thousand AswaMed'h 

 Jag} a I or sacrifices of the horse before favored with a view ot this choice form of the deity, but a_s 

 usual with every Hindu fable there is prodigious discrepancy in the several versions of it, 



