‘Tamra’ means copper and ‘Pothi’ means oracle. The ‘Tamra Pothi’ is a set of blank copper plates which had been created and energised by Shri Achuytananda Das, one of the great Panch-sakhas or the 5 great seers in 16th century Odisha. These 5 great seers had immensely contributed to the growth and development of Odia Literature during that time.
The ‘Tamra Pothi’ resides in the Jagannath temple at Kakatpur, a small town near Konark in Odisha. The mystery of this ‘Tamra Pothi’ is that it can determine on its own what question the devotee has in his/her mind even before the devotee asks for the question either verbally/written form and the ‘Tamra Pothi’ automatically surfaces the questions on the copper plates following which the predictions/answers to the question comes up on the ‘Tamra Pothi’ in Odia language which Shri Mishra, the current priest of the temple narrates it to the devotees. In all the cases till date both the question (that the devotee had concealed in his/her mind) and the answer/prediction which the “Tamra Pothi” has given is 100% accurate. The most curious case is that the ‘Tamra Pothi’ again turns into a set of blank copper plates just as it was before the session after the answers/predictions have been given.
I had been to this place myself and I have shared the pics from Jagannath Temple, Kakatpur. Since Pandit Mishra Ji is able to address 10–12 visitors who seek the help of the Tamra Pothi, hence it is advisable to take a prior appointment before going to Kakatpur. Else, you could reach early in the morning so that you can secure an appointment the same day. He is also reachable on his mobile (943-937-2441).
The ‘Tamra Pothi’ has also been covered by various reputed news channels of India till date.
Now the next question is that how can you reach Kakatpur ?
Kakatpur is around an hour and an half drive from Odisha's capital, Bhubaneswar. So once you reach Biju Patnaik Airport, Bhubaneswar, you can stay at any decent hotel in Bhubaneswar (which you would have pre-booked before travelling to Bhubaneswar) and then you can hire a taxi/cab to go to Kakatpur. Kakatpur is located en route to Konark Sun Temple (a UNESCO world heritage site) so once you have paid a visit to the Jagannath Temple at Kakatpur (where the Tamra Pothi is preserved), you can move towards Konark which is barely 20 Kms from Kakatpur. Also, you can spend some time at the famous Chandrabhaga beach which is adjacent to Konark Sun temple.
If time permits, you can also plan your trip to Chilika lake (spread over 1,100 Square KMS), which is the largest brackish water lagoon in the world and it is a tentative UNESCO world heritage site. Chilika Lake has lots of tourists spots such as Mangalajodi, where approx. 3 Lakh birds come down from Europe during October-February every year to escape the cold weather of Europe.
Hope you enjoy your stay in Odisha.