Once a devotee of Ganesha, the demigod, named Ganapati Bhatta had come to Jagannath Puri to participate in Snana Yatra. But when he saw that Lord Jagannath was not having an elephant head then he became very disappointed and left the place. Lord Jagannath being paramatma within everyone’s heart immediately understood the desire and the cause of dissatisfaction of Ganapati Bhatta. Lord Jagannath took the form of a brahmana and went to Ganapati Bhatta who had left the temple and was planning to leave Puri. As a brahmana, He convinced Ganapati Bhatta to again visit the temple. Ganapti Bhatta again visited the temple in the evening. When he took darsana of Lord Jagannath then he was pleasantly surprised to see Lord Jagannath having an elephant head. Just to please His devotee, Lord Jagannath had appeared in this specific form called the hathi vesa. This pastime of Lord Jagannath also illustrates that if one worships the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna or Lord Jagannath then there is no need to worship any demigod because Krishna is the source of all powers and all the demigods derive their power from Krishna only. During the Govardhan pastime also Lord Krishna had demonstrated that demigod worship is not required.
Rath Yatra, one of the most important festivals of the year, is on 10th July. Lord Jagannath is supremely merciful and magnanimous. Let us pray to Lord Jagannath to cleanse all the impurities from our heart and give us right intelligence and right desire, this will help us to lead a pure and happy life.
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