The Purāṇas explain that on the full moon day of the month of Jyeṣṭha, the Deities of Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā, and Sudarśana appeared on the bank of the ocean, at a place called Cakra-tīrtha, in the form of four trunks of wood. But how did this come to be?
In Satya-yuga, there was a king called Mahārāja Indradyumna, who had an ardent interest in the well-being of all living entities. Desiring to establish a relationship with the Supreme Lord, he would often discuss spiritual matters with his priests and ministers. One day, a group of pilgrims visiting his kingdom spoke in his assembly about the glories of a Deity called Śrī Nīla-mādhava. King Indradyumna was intrigued by their kathā and developed a strong desire to have the darśana of that Deity. However, before he could inquire about the whereabouts of Nīla-mādhava, the pilgrims had disappeared.
Distraught, the king sent all his ministers and priest out on a search for that beautiful Deity of the Lord. Vidyāpati, one of the young men accepting this quest, managed to locate Nīla-mādhava, and King Indradyumna immediately set out, together with all the subjects of his kingdom, to have Nīla-mādhava’s darśana. By the time they reached Nīla-mādhava’s temple, however, a big storm had destroyed the whole area and the Deity had disappeared. Greatly disappointed, King Indradyumna then sat on the bank of ocean and started to do strong austerities. He fully gave up eating and sleeping, and finally Nīla-mādhava spoke to him with His aerial voice.
The Lord said, “O Indradyumna! Don’t worry. I will give you My darśana and I will accept your service. Soon, I will come to you on the bank of the ocean, in the form of four red logs of wood, which will carry the signs of the śaṅkha (conch), cakra (disk), gadā (club), and padma (lotus). You should carve Deities from these logs of wood, and then call Lord Brahmā to install those Deities in your temple. All the demigods will also come, to worship Me and do My abhiṣeka, and from then onward, millions of people will come for My darśana and will be engaged in My service, twenty-four hours a day.”
Now the king was very happy. He waited there, at Cakra-tīrtha, and today, on Snāna Pūrṇimā, the four logs of wood arrived, floating in the ocean. The logs were very heavy, as the Supreme Lord was present within Them.
After taking the logs out of the water, they were brought to a nice room, to be made into Deities. However, none of the carpenters in the kingdom were able to carve the wood. All their tools would break as soon as they touched the logs. Finally, an old brāhmaṇa came. He said, “Give me twenty-one days, and I will surely carve the Deities. But I have one condition: during these twenty-one days, no one should disturb me. No one should enter the room I’m working in.”
For fourteen days, they could hear the brāhmaṇa work, but then no more sound came from the room. Queen Guṇḍicā, Indradyumna’s wife, became very disturbed. She said, “O Mahārāja, there is no more sound coming from that room. This brāhmaṇa hasn’t eaten or slept for fourteen days, and he hasn’t gone to the toilet. What if he is dying? If a brāhmaṇa dies in our house, then a big curse will come to us, and we will all suffer!”
Mahārāja Indradyumna said, “No, no, no. I have given him my word.”
But the queen insisted, so finally they broke open the door. The brāhmaṇa exclaimed, “Alas, what have you done! You promised me twenty-one days, but only fourteen days have passed. Now I cannot work more…” and the brāhmaṇa disappeared. He left behind four Deities that looked only half finished. They had big round eyes, no mouth, no hands or feet, and only contracted arms and legs. King Indradyumna was heart-broken. Weeping, he again started to do strong austerities.
Not long after, the Lord again spoke to him with His aerial voice. He said, “This form that the brāhmaṇa made is My eternal form. Go call Lord Brahmā to perform the installation ceremony.”
Lord Brahmā came, and on the next Snāna Pūrṇimā, the appearance day of Lord Jagannātha, he installed the Deity forms of Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā and Sudarśana. All the demigods came, Bali Maharaja came from Pātāla-loka, and all the ṛṣis and mahaṛsis came to participate in this great festival. Lord Brahmā started a grant abhiśekha, and from morning till evening, Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā and Sudarśana were bathed with waters from all the holy rivers.
Now, after millions and millions of years, this festival is still going on. As soon as Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā, and Sudarśana come out of the temple for Their bath on the Snāna Pūrṇimā, it always starts to rain. Lord Brahmā and the demigods first worship and bathe the Lord. Then the brāhmaṇas come, followed by the kings, and finally all the common people. In this way, Jagannātha’s bath is going on from morning to evening.
So why does Lord Jagannātha want to bathe so elaborately on this day? He has been inside His temple room for one full year now. Especially in the summer season, it gets very hot inside. The Lord therefore told Lakṣmī-devī, His wife, “I haven’t taken a bath for such a long time and it is so hot in here. I’m burning. Yes, candana-yātrā was performed, first for twenty-one days outside, at Candra Sarovara, and then twenty-one days inside the temple, but now I want to take a bath outside, in the open air. Rain is coming, so I want to bathe, cool My body, and after that, I will come back.”
Lakṣmī-devī said, “Don’t go! You will get sick. You will get a fever and Your whole body will ache.”
Lord Jagannāth responded, “No problem. Please give Me permission to go.”
But Lakṣmī-devī didn’t want Jagannātha to go outside. She became angry and said, “Then I will go to my father’s house!”
Seeing that Lakṣmī-devī had left, Viśvāvasu, who previously had been serving the Deity of Nīla-mādhava, came there, together with his family descendants, the dayitās. They brought Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā, and Sudarśana outside and started to clean the body of Jagannātha. First, they smeared different oils, ghee, honey, and other cleansing substances on the Lord, and then they bathed Him with milk, yoghurt, and water from all the holy places. From morning to evening, this bathing was going on, and slowly, Lord Jagannātha’s color became golden. His black color completely disappeared.
In the evening, the Lord said, “I better go back inside now. Otherwise Lakṣmī will remain angry and she will fight with Me. This is her nature.”
When He entered the temple, Lakṣmī-devī said, “Who are You? Where did Your black complexion go? Who stole it away? Like this, I will not serve You!” Again she left, and she did not cook for the Lord.
The dayitās returned and arranged milk, fruits, yoghurt, honey, butter, and many drinks for the Lord. They gave the Lord nice oil massages, smeared perfumes on His body, and offered Him mixtures of different herbs and spices. An announcement was made: “Lord Jagannātha is sick now. For fifteen days, no one should come. The temple will remain closed.”
Mahā-Lakṣmī became afraid. “My husband is sick. He is not coming out.” And thus she sat outside the temple with a big begging plate, but no one would approach her. Prior to this, she had been very proud and would think, “All people come here to see me, to beg from me,” but now that the temple was closed, no one came to her. Now, she herself was begging.
So for fifteen days, the dayitās served the Lord, and after that, they arranged a nice chariot to take Him to Vṛndāvana [represented in Jagannātha Purī by the Guṇḍica temple]. Jagannātha then told Lakṣmī-devī, “I was so sick. Now, for my recovery, I want to go and refresh for a bit in the forest.”
Lakṣmī-devī said, “Ok. You can go in the morning and return back in the evening. But You should not go alone.”
“Baladeva will come with Me.”
Subhadrā-devī and Sudarśana said, “We will also go!” and then Lakṣmī-devī also wanted to come, but Jagannātha said, “No! You cannot come.” Thus, the Lord went with all the dayitās to Vṛndāvana [Guṇḍica], and after nine days returned back to Lakṣmī-devī. In this way, the Lord celebrated the Ratha-yātrā festival.
On the day of Snāna-yātrā, everywhere in Vṛndāvana, and even everywhere in the world where there is a temple of Lord Viṣṇu, this bathing festival is celebrated in remembrance of the day that the Lord descended to this world. Everywhere, devotees perform the abhiṣeka of their Ṭhākurjī, and after the bathing, distribute the Lord’s caranāmṛta to everyone. In this way, the whole world becomes a tīrtha, a holy place. This caranāmṛta cools the heart of all the living entities. They all feel happy, and thus Pṛtivī-devī feels satisfied as well.
[Excerpted from the Bhakta Bandhav Publication “Gaudiya Bhakti Darsana, Snana-yatra“]