Stories 7
Tradition: Vaishnava · clear
Chaitanya, the golden Krishna
Chaitanya of Nabadwip taught the maha-mantra and congregational chanting; Gaudiya Vaishnavas read Bhagavata 11.5.32 as foretelling him as Krishna in a fair form.
How Shri became Vishnu's inseparable consort
The Vedic Shri of prosperity rises from the churned ocean as Lakshmi, surveys every being and chooses Vishnu as her husband.
Jagannath and the Sabara chief
Tradition says Vishnu was first worshipped in the Odisha forest as the blue stone Nilamadhava by the Sabara chief Viswavasu, before returning as the wooden Jagannath; scholars argue over what that means.
Nila Madhava and the unfinished images of Puri
King Indradyumna's priest finds Nila Madhava worshipped by a Sabara chief; the image vanishes; new images are carved from a sea-borne log and left unfinished when the carver is disturbed.
Purusha and Narayana on the waters
The cosmic person of the Purusha Sukta and the Narayana who rests on the waters are fused into Vishnu's cosmic identity, pictured as Anantashayana.
The birth of Ganesha
Parvati wants a guard of her own and shapes a boy from the paste on her body.
The chariot festival of Puri
Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra ride three chariots to the Gundicha temple, stay seven days and return in the Bahuda Yatra.