Five hundred years ago, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu went to live at Jagannatha Puri after taking sannyasa. He enjoyed many pastimes there worshipping the deities of Lord Jagannatha (Lord Krsna), Balarama and Subhadra, and dancing in ecstasy before the ratha yatra cart at the yearly festival in Puri.

The Appearance of Lord Jagannatha

Five thousand years ago, Lord Krsna, with His elder brother Balarama and His younger sister Subhadra, once visited Kuruksetra in a chariot. Two thousand years later, King Indradyumna started the temple of Jagannatha in Orissa at Puri, and he wanted to establish a picture in the temple of Krishna, Subhadra, and Balarama coming to Kuruksetra in the chariot during solar eclipse. He employed Visvakarma to carve them from wood, and made a contract with Visvakarma that the sculptor would do his work behind closed doors and the King should not disturb him. But the King, being very impatient to see, forcefully opened the door. Visvanatha stopped carving, but the king decided, "Never mind it is half finished. I shall install these deities in the temple." Since then, the three deities Jagannatha, Balarama and Subhadra are being worshiped in India at Jagannatha Puri.

In the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika (118) it is said that King Indradyumna later took birth again in his own family as Maharaja Prataparudra, during the time of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Maharaja Prataparudra was as powerful as King Indra. He belonged to the dynasty of the Ganga king, his capital was in Cuttak, and he was the Emperor of Orissa and a great devotee of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The drama named Caitanya-candrodaya was written under his direction.