''Manika'' is a 1986 socio-mythological Odia-language

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

directed Direct may refer to: Mathematics * Directed set, in order theory * Direct limit of (pre), sheaves * Direct sum of modules, a construction in abstract algebra which combines several vector spaces Computing * Direct access (disambiguation), a ...

by R. Asrar. The film depicts the legendary story of one of the devotees of Lord

Jagannath Jagannath (; formerly ) is a Hindu deity worshipped in regional Hindu traditions in India as part of a triad along with (Krishna's) brother Balabhadra, and sister, Subhadra. Jagannath, within Odia Hinduism, is the supreme god, '' Purushot ...

, Manika the milkmaid.

Plot

Manika, a milkmaid (Gauduni) and orphan girl, is a devotee of the Lord

, convinced that one day she will get a glimpse of the Lord and ultimately attain

Moksha ''Moksha'' (; , '), also called ''vimoksha'', ''vimukti'', and ''mukti'', is a term in Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism for various forms of emancipation, liberation, '' nirvana'', or release. In its soteriological and eschatologic ...

: freedom from the endless cycle of transmigration into a state of bliss. After defeat in the famous Kanchi expedition, the Gajapati of Kalinga now

Odisha, India Odisha (), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is a state located in Eastern India. It is the eighth-largest state by area, and the eleventh-largest by population, with over 41 million inhabitants. The state also has the third ...

prays Lord

and moved with the prayer Lorg

along with his brother Lord

Balabhadra In Jainism, Balabhadra or Baladeva are among the sixty-three illustrious beings called '' śalākāpuruṣas'' that are said to grace every half cycle of time. According to Jain cosmology, ''śalākāpuruṣa'' are born on this earth in every ...

started expedition to Kanchi on horse-back. On the banks of

Mahanadi The Mahanadi River is a major river in East Central India. It drains an area of around and has a total length of . Mahanadi is also known for the Hirakud Dam which was the first major multipurpose river valley project after India's independenc ...

, they reach to Manika, who is selling curd. Both the Gods drink curd and presented a golden ring studded with precious gems to Manika and said, 'the king of Kalinga' will come here, after some time, on his way to Kanchi. You present it to him and he will pay you the money. Later, the king himself passed by with his army. Milkmaid Manika obstructed the Gajapati pleading for the unpaid cost of yogurt consumed by Gajapati's two leading soldiers riding on black and white horses and produced the gold ring as evidence. Gajapati identified the ring as that of Lord

and upon the divine support, enthusiastically led the expedition. Manika is in a state of disbelief and she finally get glimpse of the God. Her ambition of the lifetime fulfilled. She decide to devote her rest of life in the prayer of lord

Cast

* Tandra Ray as Manika *

Bijay Mohanty Bijay Mohanty (8 April 1950 – 20 July 2020) was an Indian actor who worked primarily in Odia Cinema. He starred in the film '' Chilika Teerey'', which was honored a National Film Award. Personal life Mohanty was born in 1950 in an aristocrat ...

as Chandra Behera * Gurudatta Samantsinhar as Lord Jagannath *Gita Datta *Gadi *Premananda Mohanty

Music

The music of the film composed by

Upendra Kumar Upendra Kumar (18 July 1941 – 24 January 2002) was an Indian composer who predominantly worked in Kannada films. He was known for his strong association with Rajkumar and his family and scored some of his career best compositions for the films ...

. The tracks from the film include:

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 1411733, Manika 1986 films Films set in Odisha 1980s Odia-language films