A man was walking towards denser corner of the forest. He was walking with a hint of fear, as if someone could follow him in that dense forest. As if, he was hiding some secret in that forest, and he didn’t want to reveal this secret to the world. Never.

It was a full moon night. The forest was bathed with the bright light of the crescent moon. But the man was walking in hurry, it seemed like someone was waiting for him in that denser corner of the forest. He had some important work to be done there, secretly.

The mas was wearing an attire of a king, with some finely decorated jewelleries and a crown on his head. He must be a king.

Finally, he reached to the point of his destination. It was a shabby temple, covered with some big trees. A dimmed light was coming from inside. The whole place was drenched with a divine glory and a heveanly fragrance.

He stopped and looked around. After confirming that nobody else was present there apart from himself, he joined his hands, to take a ‘namaskar’ to someone called ‘Neelamadhab’.

The king entered into the temple, and sit in front of a deity. It was a beautiful idol of Lord Krishna. He started adorning the idol with flowers and chandan. While worshipping, the king started crying with his utmost devotion. Then he prayed to the god,

“He Neelamadhab, please don’t leave me ever in life. I worship you daily at night. I am hiding you in this denser corner of this forest, where nobody can find you. You will be worshipped by only me. I am your ardent devotee. O my lord, bless me with your kindness, and promise me you will never leave this forest. Never.”

After the rituals was performed, he returned to his home. Again, secretly.

That was the daily routine of Visvavasu, a tribal chief. Originally, Lord Jagannatha was worshipped as Neela Madhava by Visvavasu secretly at this spot, while it was covered with dense forest. But, one day, King Indrayumna of Malwa, had a divine communication with Lord Vishnu, in his dreamy state, that Lord Vishnu could be seen in his best form in Utkala(ancient name of Odhisha).

Knowing it, King Indrayumna assigned Vidyapati, brother of the royal priest, to search for the secret space where lord could be found. He went for a journey towards seeking the secret idol of lord Vishnu. While searching, he reached to the village of ‘Savara’, the kingdom of Visvavasu. Vidyapati got married with Lalita, daughter of that tribal chief.

One day, Vidyapati asked his wife Lalita about the mysterious activity of Visvavasu, as he witnessed that suspicious nature of his father-in-law one night. Lalita disagreed to say anything about ‘Neelamadhab’ to his husband, as she had promised to her father that she would always keep it as a secret. But, seeing a tough Vidyapati, she requested her father. Visvavasu, being affectionate to his daughter, agreed to say everything to his son-in-law.

Next night, Visvavasu blind folded Vidyapati, and took him to the temple. But while walking, Vidyapati managed to spread mustard seeds on the ground. As the seeds germinated after a few days, Vidyapati could easily trace the way to the lonely cave of Neela Madhava.

Thereafter, Vidyapati returned to Malwa and described his experiences to Indradyumna who immediately set out on a pilgrimage to Odisha. But, when he reached this holy land, he found that Nila Madhava had miraculously disappeared.

Later, King Indrayumna was directed by the divination of Lord Vishnu that he would be seen in the whole world as Lord Jagannath.

Since then, Lord Vishnu is being worshipped by the whole world as Lord Jagannath in Puri temple.