Narendra Tank, Puri – Legends
Narendra Tank:
As per legend, Narendra Deva,
the brother of Gajapati Kapilendra Deva excavated this tank and it was so named
after him. It is said that Veer Narendra Deva, his younger brother sacrificed
his life for the sake of his motherland. After his death, his wife
Kalandi Mahadevi took up sanyas and began to live in a garden. She was a
devotee of Lord Shiva and Lord Krishna. Babaji Govinda Das was her
Guru. One day, the Guru gave a pumpkin seed to the queen.
The growth of the plant was so
luxurious that it spread out over a large area. Hundreds of pumpkins were
produced. These pumpkins were used for preparing the Maha prasada at the
temple. The news spread far and wide. Gajapati Kapilendra Deva heard about it
and visited the garden accompanied by his Guru, Mahadev Brahma. At that
time Babaji Govinda Das was engaged in the worship of Lord Gopinath.
Govinda Das blessed the king and
requested him to excavate a tank named after her late husband, Veer Narendra
Deva. He also requested him to name two Ghats after Narendra Deva and his queen
Kalandi Devi. The king also constructed fourteen Ghats named after the
fourteen sons of Narendra Dev.
The Chandana bije ghat (Lamba Chakada)
was constructed for the purpose of conducting “Chandan bije” of Lord
Jagannath. This Chakada is named after Narendra Deva. He also constructed
a temple of Kalandishvara Shiva and Gopinath on the bank of the holy
tank. The Brahma jaga, named after the court poet Narahari Brahma, was
also established. The famous Chandan yatra of Lord Jagannath is being
observed with pomp and ceremony since those days.
Excavation of Narendra Tank:
King Narendra Deva was a great
devotee of Lord Jagannath. Once he found a pumpkin seed in the courtyard of his
palace. He gave the seed to his Sarbarakara (Revenue Collector) to plant
the seed in the name of Lord Jagannath and to offer all the pumpkins thus
produced to the Lord. The Sarbarakara did as instructed. The pumpkin
creeper grew to such an extent that it covered an area of fourteen acres. This
creeper produced lakhs of pumpkins.
The Sarbarakara sold the
pumpkins and deposited the money to the king. King Narendra Deva, in turn,
offered the money to the Gajapati king of Puri. Subsequently, both the
kings decided to construct a tank at Shrikshetra out of this fund. The
tank was to cover an area of fourteen acres, the equivalent of the area covered
by the pumpkin creeper. Thus, the famous Narendra Tank came into
existence.
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