Chilika Lake had hidden Shree Jagannath when invaders attacked Puri
Vast deep waters of Chilika Lake had hidden Shree Jagannath. Threatened by a Muslim invasion, deities of Shree Jagannath temple had left Puri in 1509 AD. During this exile Chilika Lake had become their shelter. This had happened during the reign of Prataprudradeva in Odisha. At that time Allauddin Hussain Shah was the sultan of Bengal. He was always trying to invade Odisha and Puri. But this sultan of Bengal had not dared to attack Puri when Prataprudradeva was present in Srikhetra or nearby. Nefarious intention: In 1509 AD, Prataprudradeva had to leave for southern region of his empire for some administrative and defence related work. This news reached Allauddin Hussain Shah. His commander Ismail Ghazi invaded Odisha. Bengal sultan’s commander launched an attack on Puri. Without the king, the defence of Puri was weak. Priests of the temple could assess that the Islamic invader had aimed to desecrate the deities of Shree Jagannath temple . Protecting the divine: The priests of Jagannat...