Legend has it that a newly married girl (named
Jaai) along with her father was going to meet her husband. As her in-law's house was on an island in
Chilika Lake they had to take a boat to ferry them across the lake.
Odisha's coast is very prone to
Cyclones and during this boat trip they were encountered with a severe
Cyclone, as a result their boat was capsized in the
Chilika Lake. Only the boatman and her father survived this event except for the girl
Jaai. They searched for her but were unable to locate her. After this accidental death of that newly wed girl, she became the Goddess of people residing nearby and till now, she is worshiped as an
EXCERPT of Kali. And, this is how the place got its name. According to a poem by Pandit
Godabarish Mishra, Jaai was a girl who was going to get married in Parikud island. The boat capsized in the storm. She met her tragic death and became the deity Kalijai. However, it's attributed to the imagination of the poet and may not be evidenced. Dr. Radha Charan Panda mentions in
The History of Parikud (1930) that this temple was built by Sri Jagannath Mansingh, king of Bankad (currently known as Banapur) in the year 1717. File:Maa Kalijai 1.jpg|Maa Kalijai at the temple File:Maa Kalijai 2.jpg|Maa Kalijai ==See also==