Manika was a historical figure in the Jagannath culture, popularly called as Manika Gauduni ( Manika), it is believed that she offered yoghurt to 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 ...

and

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 ...

when they were going to

Kanchi Kanchipuram (IAST: '; ), also known as Kanjeevaram, is a stand alone city corporation, satellite nodal city of Chennai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the Tondaimandalam region, from Chennaithe capital of Tamil Nadu. Known as the ''Ci ...

expedition of Gajapati King.

Story of Manika

Manika was born in a cowherd (Gopala) family, who had the job of selling milk & yoghurt everyday. She was also a devotee of lord

and had a dream from childhood of giving yoghurt to the Lord. One day the Gajapati king of Kalinga (now Odisha) started an expedition to Kanchi and prayed lord for help. Lord Jagannath and

Balarama Balarama (, ) is a Hindu god, and the elder brother of Krishna. He is particularly significant in the Jagannath tradition, as one of the triad deities. He is also known as Haladhara, Halayudha, Baladeva, Balabhadra, and Sankarshana. The fir ...

were in the guise of soldier, one riding a black horse and another on a white horse marched way ahead of

Purushottama Deva Vira Pratapa Purushottama Deva ( Odia: ବୀରପ୍ରତାପ ପୁରୁଷୋତ୍ତମ ଦେବ) was the second ruler from the Suryavamsa Gajapati dynasty. His father Gajapati Kapilendra Deva chose him as his heir to rule the Gajap ...

's army. But they were not noticed by anyone. Near

Chilika lake Chilika Lake is the largest brackish water lagoon with estuarine character that sprawls along the east coast of Indian sub-continent in Asia and second largest coastal lagoon in the world, covering an area of over . It is spread over the Puri, ...

(still exists a few miles away from

Puri Puri, also known as Jagannath Puri, () is a coastal city and a Nagar Palika, municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, south of the state ca ...

) as the soldiers rested to have some food, these two soldiers went to a nearby stall of Manika and requested her to sell them yoghurt. She didn't recognize the lords, thinking as soldiers she asked for money. Lord Jagannath gave her his own precious Gem-studded ring (called "Ratnamudrika") and said she could exchange this for money from the king, who will pass by shortly. When the king reached the spot later Manika stopped the marching king and told him that he must pay her price of yoghurt consumed by his two soldiers in the lieu of a ring. When king saw the ''Ratnamudrika'' , he immediately recognized it to be of lord Jagannath. He was overjoyed by knowing that lords were leading his March against Kanchi. The king gave Manika a large number of money and granted a village to Manika for her sustenance. The village came to be known as Manikpatna.

In popular culture

'' Manika'', a black and white movie, was released in 1986 in the

Odia language Odia (;"Odia"
''Lexico''. , ISO 15919, ISO: , ; formerly rendere ...

describing the background of this story. The legend of manika also written in Kanchi Kaveri poem of Purushottama Dasa. That was also the same name in Bengali of Rangalal Bandyopadhyay.

References

{{Reflist Cultural history of Odisha Devotees of Jagannath