Thereupon the
goddess, who had taken up her abode in the house of the fisher man, incensed at his
betrayal of thesecret, fled, and assuming the form of a stone image, seated herself over
the mouth of the well so as to hide it from view. The fisherman showed the king the spot,
and the latter, not being able to get at the well, built the temple over the image. Other
legends declare that the well, besides containing the essence of immortality, had the
faculty of turning everything dipped in it into gold.
The temple of the goddess is situated on the bank of the Rupnarayan, and the honor of its
construction is ascribed to various persons. Some say that Viswakarma, the engineer of the
gods, built it.It is generally, however, ascribed to the king of the Pea cock dynasty
mentioned above,although the Rajas of Tamluk assert that thefounder of their dynasty, the
first Kaibartta king,was its builder.Another legend
relates how a famous merchant, named Dhanapati, anchored at Tamluk when sailing down
theRupnarayan. While here, he saw a man carrying a golden jug, who told him that a spring
in the neighboring jungle had turned his brass-vessel into a gold one and pointed out the
well. The merchant accordingly bought up all the brass vessels in the market, transmuted
them into the precious metal, sailed to Ceylon, where he sold them to the natives, and
returning built the great Tamluk temple. |
