It is much before the tenth century, when the Sabar tribe used to live in Koraput district in the south of Odisha. They had a king named Vishwa Basu. They all used to worship a stone idol in that area. This tribe had linked this idol to their existence. With this power, they did not let anyone conquer their area. At that time there was a king of Puri, who was engaged in expanding his empire. But, the biggest obstacle in his way was this tribe of Koraput. The king tried a lot, but he could not conquer them. Finally, he sent his clever commander Vidyapati to Koraput, who started living among these tribals in disguise. Delhi University professor Dr Manoranjan Mohanty has told in his book 'Bright Orissa: Why Still Poor' that the story of Odisha is related to the capture of Odia culture and economy in the name of Lord Jagannath.
The secret of Lord Jagannath was revealed by trapping the king's daughter in a love trap
According to Dr. Mohanty, Vidyapati trapped Vishwa Basu's daughter Lalita in his love trap and married her. When a lot of time passed, Vidyapati told his wife Lalita that he wanted to see the God who gives power to those tribals. Then Lalita said that the way to reach our God cannot be shown to any outsider. In such a situation, if you want to see God, you will have to be taken there blindfolded. Vidyapati agreed.
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While going blindfolded, he sprinkled mustard seeds
When he was being taken to the idol of the Lord blindfolded, Vidyapati kept sprinkling mustard on his fists to identify the way. Later when he went to Puri, he attacked Koraput with his army after the rains. By that time mustard had grown, which became the trail to reach the idol of the Lord. When Vishwa Basu was defeated, Vidyapati brought Lord Jagannath with him to Puri. He also brought his wife Lalita and father-in-law with him. Later, around the 12th century, the ruler of the Ganga dynasty, Ananta Varman Chodaganga Deva, built a temple of Lord Jagannath and also built a Ratna Bhandar for him.
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When the British brought a letter from Calcutta about the Kali temple
It is about the year 1803, when an English commander reached Puri with permission from the British East India Company based in Calcutta and gave a letter of Kali temple to a Brahmin of Lord Jagannath temple and said that we will help in the worship of Lord Jagannath temple. In the year 1817, a big battle took place between the British and the local king, in which the king was defeated. Since then this temple remained under the control of the British. After independence, this temple came under the control of the central government.
Temples have three times more gold than the US treasury
There is so much gold in the treasury of Indian temples that it is three times more than the treasury of the US government. God loves gold in temples so much that 4000 tons of gold is kept in temples like Padmanabha Swamy Temple, Tirupati Balaji Temple, Jagannath Temple, Vaishno Devi Temple. This data is from the World Gold Council. India's gold reserves may be more than 800 tons, but we Indians love gold so much that we have collected more than 25 thousand tons of it. This is almost three times the 8,965 tons of America, which has the world's largest gold reserves.
4.74 lakh crore rupees spent on pilgrimage in India
In India, the practice of visiting temples is so closely linked to tradition and spirituality that every year people spend Rs 4.74 lakh crore on pilgrimages or religious tours alone. According to the data of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), India's temple economy has grown to about Rs 3.02 lakh crore, which is 2.32 percent of the country's total growth rate i.e. GDP.
Role of temple economic sector in the development of India
In a research published in the Journal of Asian Studies, Professor Burton Stein of the University of Minnesota says that for centuries in the history of India, pilgrimage sites and temples have been important economic centers. These temples have been developing as economic sectors. They have been playing an important role in the development of India.
150 kg gold in the Ratna Bhandar of Jagannath temple
When the list was made in 1978, 600 crore rupees were found deposited in the bank of Jagannath temple, about 128 kg gold and 221 kg silver were found in Ratna Bhandar. Apart from this, there were many precious jewelery. Apart from this, 60,426 acres of land in Odisha and 395.2 acres of land in other 6 states are registered in the name of Lord Jagannath. At the same time, according to the affidavit of the temple administration in the Odisha High Court, there are 149.47 kg gold and 198.79 kg silver jewelery and utensils in the Ratna Bhandar of Jagannath temple.
Why did Prime Minister Modi mention the key to the Ratna Bhandar?
During the election campaign in Odisha, PM Narendra Modi had questioned BJD's claim of Odia identity on the pretext of the loss of the key of the Ratna Bhandar of Puri's Jagannath temple. In 1985, the Ratna Bhandar was opened to repair the ornaments of Lord Balabhadra. Since then this storehouse of Lord Jagannath remained closed. In 2018, it was discovered that the key of the Ratna Bhandar was lost. On PM Modi's claim, BJD leader VK Pandian said that PM Modi is raising an important issue to divert attention from issues of public interest. He said that as per the court order, during the Rath Yatra in 2024, when there will be no crowd of devotees in the temple and the Lord will also be on the yatra, then the Ratna Bhandar will be opened as per the court order.
Now the fight for political rights
Dr. Manoranjan Mohanty says that even today there are so many minerals in the soil of Odisha that everyone has their eyes on it. This is where the whole fight is. Everyone wants to capture it. The British first kept this rich region under their control, now efforts are being made to take it under political control.
