Vira Pratapa Purushottama Deva was the second ruler from the Suryavamsa Gajapati dynasty.
21 Facts About Purushottama Deva
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Purushottama Deva is the lead character of the legend of Kanchi Kaveri Upakhyana written by the poet Purushottama Dasa in sixteenth century and later adapted to Bengali by the Bengali poet Rangalal Bandyopadhyay.
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Purushottama Deva had a militarily advantageous fortification in Cuttack's Barabati fort, which in turn was protected by a string of other extensive fortifications and camps of the Gajapati forces.
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Purushottama Deva lost more than half of his father's empire in the initial years to Hamvira and the Bahmani forces.
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Sayid AliTaba Taba writes that when Purushottama Deva's forces arrived in the region, the garrison at Kondavidu fort rebelled and killed their general before making Hamvira in charge.
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In 1477, Purushottama Deva invaded Bahmani territories and occupied Rajamundry without much opposition.
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Sultan demanded 25 elephants and Purushottama Deva had to agree to this condition.
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An inscription of Purushottama Deva dated to 1484 states that Azam Khan gifted the village of Mutukumalli located in the Vinukonda taluq of Guntur district to Purushottama on the occasion of a lunar eclipse.
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The emissaries had arrived on the auspicious day of Rath Yatra festival of lord Jagannath and witnessed Purushottama Deva performing the sweeping ceremony on the chariot of the lord with a golden broomstick.
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Purushottama Deva was defeated and unsuccessful in the first attempt, returned disheartened as a broken man to his homeland Odisha and went straight to the Puri temple.
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Purushottama Deva prayed to the lord there asking for his divine assistance in breaking the enemy lines.
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When Purushottama Deva meets Manika, he rejoices that the gods go before him and honors her with the village Manika Patana.
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Gajapati Purushottam Purushottama Deva was a scholar of Sanskrit literature and is attributed to have written many scriptures on his own during this time.
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Purushottama Deva established 16 Sasans on banks of river Mahanadi after his victory in war.
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The idols of Uchistha or Kamada Ganesha and Gopala brought as trophy of victory over Kanchi by Purushottama Deva are now placed in the premises of Jagannath Temple at Puri.
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The Puri Jagannath temple's fortification walls like the inner wall Kurma Bedha and outer wall Meghanada Prachira were completed during the rule of Purusottama Purushottama Deva though started by his father.
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Purushottama Deva built the Sundara Madhava temple in Purushottampur of today's Ganjam district.
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Purushottama Deva pardoned his brother Hamvira Deva and let him rule as a representative and vassal of the Gajapati Empire in the southern territories.
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Purushottama Deva did not face any threat from the northern Muslim ruled kingdoms like Bengal or Jaunpur unlike his father and successor Prataprudra Deva who would eventually struggle to keep the empire intact while dealing with Krishna Deva Raya of Vijayanagar, Muslim States of Deccan India and Bengal.
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Purushottama Deva established complete military control over a vast region comprising Bengali, Telugu, Carnatic and Tamil speaking people, other than Odias and contributed to the aversion of any Muslim dynasty's direct rule in south eastern coastal provinces and territories of India in the 16th Century.
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The Madala Panji temple records of Jagannath Temple at Puri state that Purushottama Deva made a donation of 2000 Kahanas of cowries to the temple which shows his devotion to lord Jagannath.