Maharaja Prataparudra made various arrangements for Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s trip to Vrndavana.. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu requested Gadadhara Pandita to return to Nilacala, Jagannatha Puri, but he did not abide by this order. From Kataka, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu again requested Gadadhara Pandita to return to Nilacala, and He bade farewell to Ramananda Raya from Bhadraka. After this, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu crossed the border of Orissa state, went to Ramakeli where He saw Sri Rupa and Sanatana and accepted them as His chief disciples. Returning from Ramakeli, He met Raghunatha dasa and after giving him instructions sent him back home. Thereafter the Lord returned to Nilacala and began to make plans to go to Vrndavana without a companion.

This is the place on the river Mahanadi where Lord chaitanya left Gadadhar panditon his first attempt to go to Vrindavan and asked him to return to jagannath puri. The exact location on the river banks is depicted with a beautiful image of Lord Chaitanya. Chaitanmya charitamrita : Lord Chaitanya Visit to Vrindavan. Madhyalila chptr 17 After attending the Ratha-yatra ceremony of Sri Jagannatha, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu decided to start for Vrndavana. Sri Ramananda Raya and Svarupa Damodara Gosvami selected a brahmana named Balabhadra Bhattacarya to personally assist Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Early in the morning before sunrise, the Lord started for the town of Kataka. North of Kataka, He penetrated a dense forest and came upon many tigers and elephants, whom He engaged in chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. Whenever the Lord had a chance to visit a village, Balabhadra Bhattacarya would beg alms and acquire some rice and vegetables. If there were no village, Balabhadra would cook whatever rice remained and collect some spinach from the forest for the Lord to eat. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was very pleased with the behavior of Balabhadra Bhattacarya.In this way the Lord passed through the jungle of Jharikhanda and finally reached Varanasi.

Cuttack (or Kataka) was founded by King Nrupa Keshari in 989 AD. King Marakata Keshari built the stone revetment on the left bank of the Kathajodi in 1006 AD to protect the city from the ravages of floods. Due to its strategic location, King Anangabhima Dev III shifted his capital from 'Choudwar Kataka' to the present Cuttack, then known as 'Abhinaba Varanasi Kataka' and built the fort of Barabati in 1229 AD. Cuttack has witnessed the rule of several dynasties : the Kesharis, the Gangas, the Gajapatis and the Bhois. The Madalapanji indicates that the fort was built in 989 AD

In the period 1512 to 1517, LordChaitanya on his return from Vrindavan paid a visit to Cuttack, the capital of the Gajapati empire of Orissa. The then emperor of Orissa, Gajapati Pratap Rudra Dev, known as King Prataprudra, received him at Gadagadia Ghata, situated near the river bank of Mahanadi. Gadagadia Ghata is very close to the king's Palace, which is popularly known as Barabati Fort. To commomerate this pastime King installed Lord Chaitanya footprints in a small temple here as shown below.

After welcoming Lord Chaitanya mahaprabhu at Gadagadia ghat , King arranged for a secluded place close by for Lord to reside. Lord stayed on for 3 more days at this place. This place of Lord’s residence is now located in a busy locality called as Mohamadia bazar (Near to famous Oriya bazar). A small garden and a beautiful small temple still stands here to commemorate Lords stay here. The temple compound also has footprints of Lord Chaitanya and the tree under which lord sat.

Next door just across the road is an old well which Lord Chaitanya used when he stayed here. It is known as Chaitanya’s well.

Though not so popular today , yet this place is locally known in this area as Chaitanya math or Pancatatva math or Mahaprabhu Badi. Celebration of Bali yatra festival on river Mahandi near Gadagadia Ghat

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There are two stories relating to the celebration of Bali Yatra inCuttack. The first one rel;ates to the visit of Lord Chaitanya to Orissa some 500 years back ,who upon his visit to cuttack crossed the Mahanadi river and proceeded for a darshan of “Sakhigopal” at the Barabati Fort. He is then supposed to have taken a bath in theMahanadi on the full moon day of Kartika and then have rested on the sands at the river bed. Since sand is called “Bali” in the local language, the festival came to be called Bali Yatra in consonance with Sri Chaitanya’s historic visit and bath. The other more popular and widespread belief is that of the commemoration of the trade relations between the merchants of Orissa and that of IndonesianislandofBali. The ships carrying merchandise from Orissa to the island country sailed out on the auspicious day of the kartik Purnima. Hence the day became synonymous with the festivities. Oriya merchants who went for trade overseas would return with riches and tales of adventure. their wives accompanied by their children and neighbors thronged the Gadgadia ghat to welcome their husbands on arrival. In those days women were not allowed to venture out. However on this day, they went out to see off their husbands and willingly bought out things of their choice. This was the reason why a fair was organized in front of the Barbati Fort for the ladies . In the course of time the fair came to be known asBaliyatra.

Katak, one of the millennium cities of India bears the pride of being the capital city of Odisha until the new capital at Bhubaneswar came into existence. It is situated between the Mahanadi River and Katjudi

atjudi.