Death Wish

Oh! The devotion of King Indradumna and Queen Gundicha in contrast to the present servitors of the shri Jagannath Puri who stop the daily rituals of the temple at the drop of a hat.

But if you so wish then ‘Let me die without a son. Let there be no heir to “Indradumna & Gundicha”.

King Indradumna of Avanti came to Puri in search of NeelaMadhaba, the elusive tribal blue god of Nilgiri hills of Shankha Kshetra on the Mahodadhi ( Bay of Bengal) But alas,the lord has vanished from the Ratnavedika. The king was sad. He did a number of yagnas on the beaches of Puri. Queen Gundicha ( of Gundicha yatra/ the car festival) did a lot of penance. Then the Lord appeared as a log of wood floating on the Chakra Tirtha beach of Puri….. After the temple was built and the now famous DaruBrahma was installed, the lord wanted to grant a boon to the King Indradumna for his service.The reluctant king said, “You have come to me oh Lord. What else do I want on this earth or in the three world. …But if you so wish to grant me the boon, Oh Lord of the three world ! then grant me only this.. ‘Let me die without a son. Let there be no heir to “Indradumna & Gundicha” for the posterity”‘O king ! Think twice.’ Sayeth the lord. ‘And why?”Let there be no one in my linage to claim the ownership of this temple in future. Let me have no inheritor.’So on the auspicious day of Amavas of the sacred Margashirsha , the lord Jagannath himself becomes the son of the late king and offers Shraddha to the king who had no son, no heir by his own wish…

In the sacred land of Purushottam, the festival of Divine lights ( Dev- Deepabali) is observed for three days starting on the 14th day of the waning moon of the sacred Margasirsha. On the first day the lord wears white Nagpuri Shola and offers deepam to Aditi, Kashyap. On the Amavas day to Dashrsth and Kaushlya. And finally on the third day of this festival the lord himself becomes the son of the late king and offers Shraddha to the both Indradumna and Gundicha along with other mortal parents of Dwapara – Basudev, Devaki and Nanda, Yashoda. All of them had no son, But only king Indradumna and Gundicha had forgone their heir by their own wish – the Death Wish.