Nila Madhav

Jara, the hunter who had killed Krishna, is reborn as a Shabara tribal man named Biswa Basu. He discovers a congealed blue stone - Krishna’s heart- in the forests around Puri and worships this giant stone as Nila Madhava.

There was a king named Indradyumna from the Lunar dynasty who heard about Neela Madhaba from a pilgrim who informed the Lord was being worshipped in Neelachal (Blue Mountain) in Udra pradesh (present day Odisha), near the river Mahanadi. The king then sent his people to locate the lord. One of his people, a bramhin called Bidyapati met the tribal king Biswabasu who offered him to be his guest. Bidyapati fell in love with the beautiful daughter of the king named Lalita. Eventually they got married and started living in the forest for some time. Bidyapati noticed the tribal king going out every day before break of the dawn and asked his wife about the secret. She says her father goes to worship Lord Neela Madhaba who is inside a cave up in the mountain. Bidyapati requests Lalita to convince her father to take him to the lord which Biswabasu does not agree. Bidyapti denounces food till the time he could have a glimpse of Neela Madhaba. Finally, the tribal king gives in and agrees to take Bidyapati to the cave, however under the condition that he will be blindfolded throughout the route. He drops black mustard seeds all along the trail. He waits a few days for the yellow mustard flowers to sprout and retraces his steps back into the forest to where the idol is hidden. Once he discovers the spot, he rushes to King Indradyumna to tell him the story and the location. The king gathers up his forces and goes towards Nilachala, or Blue Mountain. He goes to the cave, but the blue stone idol has vanished.

That night, the blue lord appears in his sleep. “Build a large temple for me," says the lord. “Go to the seashore. You will find a large log of wood with markings that include a conch, a chakra, a mace and a lotus (shankha-chakra-gada-padma), the four things that are carried by Lord Vishnu. Carve this log into four idols and install them in your temple."

The king as per the divine instruction took the log to make the idols. A very old and frill looking sculptor offered to make the idols, but under the condition that nobody would disturb him till he is done with his job inside a sealed chamber. The king conceded with the sculptor and allowed him to work on making of the idol inside a closed chamber. After few days the queen while passing through the chamber couldn’t hear any sound from inside. She became anxious and informed the king. She requested the king to open the chamber and see if the old man was alive. Indradyumna was reluctant but upon insistence of the queen, finally opened the doors to find the lord of architecture, Bishwakarma making the idols. But as the king broke his promise, Bishwakarma left immediately leaving the half-built idols behind. The king took it as the god’s will and installed the idols in the Jagannath temple of Puri. once in every twelve to nineteen years, the bramha is placed inside the new idols and the old ones are buried in the temple premises. The ceremony is called Nava Kalebara which in Sanskrit means “new body.”