Princess Padmavati of the Kanchi made up her mind to wed the Gajapati king of Odisha.The king of Kanchi traveled to Puri to grant his own Princess’s wish.Princess Padmavati visited Puri as well to see the renowned Rath yatra.Kanchi King anticipated a warm greetings from Gajapati King Purusottamdev, however the King of Odisha does not bows to anybody except Lord Jagannath.This was a slight against the arrogant Kanchi King.”I will not give my daughter’s hand to a chandala, He works as a sweeper during Rath yatra,” the monarch said to his daughter Padmavati upon his return from Puri.In a covert message, Padmavati informed the king of Odisha of all these events.To save Padmavati, Purusottamadeva set out for Kanchi, but his first effort was unsuccessful.The Gajapati king came back dejected.
Odisha’s King raged when he learned from the Kanchi messenger that Kanchi King put forth a condition that he would battle by betting his own God. The Kanchi King said he will win the war and take Lord Jagannath, Maa Subhadra and Lord Balabhadra from Puri and keep them back side of Lord Ganesha(Kuldev of Kanchi). The Gajapati king went to Srimandira (Jagannath Temple) and prayed to the Lord Jagannath, beneath the Ratnasinghasan “O Lord save this deprived servant, destroy Kanchi king’s pride,I can’t bear this humililation,I will go to war tomorrow after receiving your orders.”That night, the King had a dream. Jagannath appeared and assured him, saying, “Don’t worry, I’ll be leading this war.”Purusottamdev also saw Jagannath and Balabhadra in his dream, both riding black and white horses to victory.
Purusottamadeva The Gajapati King began preparations for the war before embarking on his journey. Lord Jagannath and Lord Balabhadra set off in disguise. Lord Jagannath and Lord Balabhadra were thirsty and stopped near Brahmagiri to eat curd from a lady vendor. Subsequently, the lady vendor demanded payment for the curd. However, Lords did not have any money with them. As a result, they were in an awkward predicament. Lord Jagannath then handed the lady vendor his ring and stated, “Gajapati king will be here soon, show this ring to him, and he will pay you for your curd, and you can return this ring to him.” They then exited and rejoined the jourmey.
After a few hours, the Gajapati King arrived and heard everything from the Lady Vendor. He was taken aback when he saw the Ring and realised it belonged to Lord Jagannath. As a result, he realised his previous night’s dreams was indeed real. King Gajapati began to rejoice after learning that Lord Jagannath and Lord Balabhadra are fighting beside him and that he will undoubtedly win. “What is your name?” King Gajapati asked to the lady seller.
“My name is Manika,” stated the lady vendor. Then Gajapati, the king, said, “Mother Manika do you know how blessed you are, Lord Jagannath who is the Lord of all, eaten curd from your hand”.
King Gajapati declared that the location will be named after the elderly lady seller. Manikapatna is the name he gave to the place. King also gave Manika a wealth and decided to rejoin on his voyage.
On the other side Lord Jagannath and Lord Balabhadra arrived at the battleground and spotted Ganpati fighting from the Kanchi king’s side. Lord Jagannath and Lord Balabhadra arrived to the battlefield and saw Ganpati there to fight from the Kanchi king’s side. Lord Jaganath believed it would be awkward to fight Lord Ganesha on the battleground after seeing him there. So Lord Jagannath devised a plot to divert Lord Ganesha’s attention. He summoned Kamadev and instructed him to shoot a flower arrow of love at Lord Ganesha and Devi Sriya, Lord Ganesh’s wife. Lord Ganesha and Devi Sriya were aroused as a result of Kamdev’s arrow, and Lord Ganesha became completely distracted from the combat. Meanwhile, Odia Paika soldiers took advantage of the situation and won the battle.
Padmabati joyfully wedded the Gajapati king. Kanchi Ganesh was also relocated to the Puri Jagannath temple by the Gajapati King. If you go to Jagannath Temple, you can see Kanchi Ganesh there.
Jai Jagannath
