Indradyumna Sarovara is the great sacred lake at Purushottama Kshetra (Purī, Utkala). It was formed from the waters of the final bath of the one thousand Aśvamedha yajñas (fire rituals) that king Indradyumna performed. It lies near Nīlāchala hill and south of the Narasiṃha kshetra. By the grace of Bhagavān Jagannātha it keeps the king’s name for ever. Bhagavān Jagannātha says that he comes to stay at this lake for some days every year, during the Guṇḍichā Yātrā.

Origin

King Indradyumna performed one thousand Aśvamedha yajñas at Purushottama Kshetra. This was the greatest act of tapas (austerity) by a king in the Purāṇas. The final ritual bath of the whole series, the avabhṛtha-snāna, let loose a flood of consecrated water. That water formed this lake on the grounds of the kshetra. In this way Indradyumna’s name is written into the land of Purushottama by the waters of his devotion (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Purushottama Kshetra Māhātmya, Chapter 17).

Place within the kshetra

The lake lies near Nīlāchala hill, south of the Narasiṃha kshetra. The Guṇḍichā Maṇḍapa, where Bhagavān Jagannātha stays for a time during the Ratha Yātrā, stands near the Indradyumna Sarovara. The yajña-bhūmi (the ground where the thousand Aśvamedhas were performed) is named as the site of both the lake and the Guṇḍichā Maṇḍapa (Chapters 29 and 34).

Bhagavān Jagannātha’s yearly visit

After the pratishṭhā (installation of the mūrti), Bhagavān Jagannātha spoke to Indradyumna: “For nine days in Āshāḍha, I will go to the Guṇḍichā Maṇḍapa and stay at the Indradyumna Sarovara. All tīrthas will be present there during those days.” So the lake becomes the temporary home of Bhagavān Jagannātha himself during the yearly Guṇḍichā Yātrā. No other sacred water of the kshetra has this rank (Chapter 29).

The Purāṇa also records that Bhagavān Jagannātha told Indradyumna at the Guṇḍichā Maṇḍapa: “I come here every year for these days.” In this time, bathing in the Indradyumna Sarovara equals bathing in all tīrthas at once, because all sacred waters gather here during the Mahāvedī Mahotsava (Chapter 34).

Narasiṃha at the lake

The Purāṇa also records the presence of Bhagavān Narasiṃha at the Indradyumna Sarovara. On certain tithis, bathing here with the Narasiṃha mahāmantra is prescribed as an added sacred act in the round of pilgrimage at Purushottama (Chapter 31).

Rites for the ancestors

The Purāṇa names the Indradyumna Sarovara as a good place for pitṛ-kārya (rites for the ancestors). A śrāddha performed at the lake on Āshāḍha Śukla Pañchamī, when the moon is in Maghā nakshatra (this falls in the time of the Guṇḍichā Yātrā), brings very great spiritual fruit (Chapter 34).

Merit of the lake

By the word of Bhagavān Jagannātha, the Indradyumna Sarovara becomes the meeting point of all sacred tīrthas during the nine days of the Guṇḍichā Yātrā. Bathing here in that festival gives the fruit of bathing in the Gaṅgā, the Yamunā and all the seven sacred rivers at once. On ordinary days, the mere sight of the lake destroys pāpa (sin). Bathing in it during the Guṇḍichā Yātrā gives moksha (liberation) (Chapters 29 and 34).

Sources

Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Purushottama Kshetra Māhātmya, Chapters 17, 29, 31 and 34