Orissa Review * June - 2006

Sri Temple : The Nerve Centre of Orissan Culture

Dr. Janmejay Choudhury

Jagannath cult exercises unique influence over If Lord Jagannath was tribal in origin, at the socio-religious-political life of Orissa. what stage and how was He metamorphosed During the Ganga and Surya rules, Jagannath, into a Hinduised deity ? The legends regading so to say, became the state deity. Jagannath the origin of Jagannath, which have been cult is an amalgamation of diverse religious recorded in various sources such as cults like tribal religion, Brahminical Mahabharat of , Deula Tola of religion, Buddhism, Saivism, Saktism, Nilambar Das, Skanda Purana, Brahma Tantricism and above all Vaishnavism. Purana, Narada Purana, Padma Purana, Kapila Lord Jagannath holds a unique Samhita etc. suggest the tribal as well as place not only in the history of Brahminical links of the deity in the initial state. Orissa, but also in the lives of its According to Sarala Das's Mahabharat, the people. To the millions of the dead body of Lord Krishna, Hindus of Orissa, Jagannath is transformed into wooden form, their nearest kith and kin. But landed at the sea shore. the origin of Lord Jagannath, Jara Sabara, an aborigine, the presiding deity of the picked it up and holy city Puri, around worshipped it. whom the religious life of Subsequently, Orissa has evolved from , the hoary past has been shrouded in king of Somavansa, got myths and legend. Analysing the three wooden images made out legendary association of Jagannath with a class of aborigines called Sabaras, the peculiar nature of the log and built a temple for the deities. of the wooden icon of the deity and his According to Deula Tola, Indradyumna, the associates, Balabhadra and , and king of Malava, got a piece of sacred wood, association of a class of non-Brahmin priests which was the matamorphosed shape of god called Daitas who are presumed to be of tribal Nilamadhaba from the Sabara Chief named origin with the worship of the deity, some Viswavasu, and out of the wood he carved three scholars hold that Jagannath was originally a images. Both the stories suggest the Vaishnavite tribal deity. origin of Jagannath. But Indradyumna, the hero

58 Orissa Review * June - 2006 of these legends remains a legendary figure, as a Vaishnavite. Anangabhima Dev-III, his and his historicity cannot be founded on any successor, during whose reign construction of safe ground. Some have identified him with some parts of the Temple were completed, in the Indradyumna of original Mahabharat and his 6th regnal year in 1216 A.D. called himself considered him to be very ancient figure of the "Son of Purushottam" or Jagannath. In his pre-Christian era. If we accept the version of Puri inscription of 1237 A.D., Anangabhima Sarala's Mahabharat, we may feel inclined to Dev proclaimed Lord Jagannath, as the identify him with Indrarath, the Somavamsi Emperor of Utkal and himself as only his Rauta king of tenth Century A.D. But identification or representative. Jagannath, identification as of Indradyumna with Indrarath is at variance the State deity or Rastra Devata, was complete. with the long-accepted tradition that Yajati I In the changed context, the traditional tie the remote predecessor of Indrarath, built the between the State and Jagannath has snapped Jagannath Temple at Puri. According to the through the people of Orissa, still continue to Temple chronicles, when Yajati Keshari, who look upto him as their Ista-Devata. was a Saivite by faith, came to occupy the Some Scholars trace a Buddhist origin throne of Orissa, he enquired of the priests of of the trinity of the Jagannath temple. It is said Puri, 'Where is the Overlord' ? Whereupon the that the tooth relic of Lord Buddha is preserved priests informed him that the great God in the image of Jagannath, that the three deities- Parameswara was kept hidden in Sunupura for Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra represent fear of defilement in the hands of the invaders. Buddha, Dharma and Sangha respectively, that Yajati Kesari retrieved the idol of Jagannath all and of the Sri from under the earth and installed Him in a Jagannath temple are of Buddhist origin and newly constructed temple in order to that the sharing of Kaivalya on equal footing legitimatise his rule in the eyes of the people. by all castes is due to the Buddhist impact. Anantavarma Choda Ganga Dev, of the Eastern There are some literary evidences of co-relation Ganga Dynasty also followed the same between Lord Jagannath and Buddhism. tradition. Chodaganga Dev hailed from the According to some scholars, Jagannath is a South, with Mukhalingam as his Capital. The common epithet of Buddha. In Tibet, one of Shiva Gokarneswara on Mahendragiri, was his the names of Buddha is Jagannath. , family deity or Ista devata. But in course of the twelvth century Vaishnava poet who the northward push of his empire, for strategic according to some scholars, identified reasons he shifted his capital from Jagannath with Krushna or Vishnu also Mukhalingam to Cuttack and reconstructed the accepted Buddha as the ninth incarnation of Jagannath Temple of Puri to legitimise and Krushna or Vishnu. Sarala Das, the fifteenth stabilise his authority over Orissa. The famous century poet, in his Mahabharat, regarded Vaishnava Saint Ramanuja (1056-1136) visited Jagannath as an embodiment of Buddha. He Puri during his reign and is said to have wrote, "To deliver mankind, Jagannath has introduced the Pancharatra System in the manifested himself in the form to Buddha", worship of Jagannath, Chodaganga Dev, who Daru Brahma Gita of Jagannath Deva says, "to was described as a Shaivite in his earlier assume the form of Buddha, the lord gave up inscriptions, soon began to proclaim himself his hands and legs." Some Oriya Vaishnavas

59 Orissa Review * June - 2006 regarded Chaitanya as the partial manifestation Krishna with Radha, and identified Radha with of Buddha. In the Chaitanya Bhagavata of Kamala or Lakshmi, the consort of Narayan. Iswar Das, Chaitanya is reported to have said, Jayadev regarded Jagannath as Krishna. I am Chaitanya in form of Buddha." Dr. Subhadra was treated as Lakshmi in the Ganga Eschmann holds that in his earliest form as an period, and even afterwards. The Purushottama image Vishnu, Jagannath was known as Mahatmya of Skanda Purana and Vishnu Nrushimha, the Lion incarnation of Vishnu. Her Purana referred to the female wooden image contention is based on the fact that the between Jagannath and Balabhadra as Nabakalabar ritual considers the Jagannath Lakshmi. Some Scholars are of opinion that figure to be Narasimha. She says, "Narasimha the image of Jagannath has striking similarity is that iconological aspect of Jagannath, which with that of Ekapada Bhairava with one foot recedes in the later theology; it can be easily which is a manifestation of Siva, whose was associated with tribal cults and was probably prevalent during the Bhaumakara period. Some instrumental for the development of Jagannath Tantrik texts refer to Puri as a seat of Shaktism, iconography." Vimala as the Shakti and Jagannath as his Most of the scholars accepted that Bhairava. The prevalence of Saivism at Puri is Jagannath was known as Purushottama. proved by the existence of such Saiva shrines Vishnudharma, an unpublished Sanskrit of Markandeswara, Pataleswar and Lokanath. manuscript of 3rd century A.D. says that The prevalence of Shaktism at Puri is borne Krishna was known as Purushottama in the out by the worship of Vimala inside the temple, Odra country. Vamana Purana, a work of and the existence of Saptamatruka image. The seventh century A.D., refers to the 'Utkal Khanda' of Skanda Purana describes Purushottama deity of Puri. Subhadra as the Shakti of Jagannath. Anargharaghavanatakam of Murari Mishra is Basically the pre-Aryan autochthonous a work of the middle or later part of ninth visionaries have laid the foundation of the century A.D. describes Purushottama deity of Hindu spiritual thoughts. Even the concept of Puri with his female consort, Kamala on lap. 'Soul' or the Divine ground is borrowed from The Sarada Devi temple inscription of Maihar the autochthonous seers and savants. The (Satna district of Madhya Pradesh) which is uniqueness of Lord Jagannath lies in the fact assigned to the middle of the tenth century that originally a Deity worshipped by the A.D., also refers to the Purushottama deity of autochthonous Sabaras, came to occupy the Odra country, located on the sea-shore. The highest position in the Hindu Pantheon and literary and epigraphic sources affirm the came to be known as the Purushottama and in reputation of the Purushottama deity of Puri the process the cult absorbed all the major in the tenth century A.D. The name religious movements and philosophy which had Purushottama though an epithet of Vishnu, has swept the Indian sub-continent and has evolved Tantrik significance according to some a syncretism which is unique in character. This scholars. It represents the erotic aspects of small treatise while emphasises on the Vishnu. Purushottama is to be found with autochthonous origin and isolates the tribal Laxmi, the female erotic partner. Jayadeva, in stands in the highly sophisticated cult, his Gitagovinda, dealt with erotic sports of highlights the elements of the Nathsidha cult,

60 Orissa Review * June - 2006 and other various cults like the Buddhist Jagannath, the political unification of Orissa, Tantric, the Sakta, the Shaiva and the various into one unit was brought about which denominations of the Vaishnavites. While this ultimately helped full blosooming of Orissan work seeks to achieve nothing new, it highlights culture, during the Solar Dynasty. Jagannath the all absorbing aspects of the cult of the came to symbolise also the nationalist Jagannath, which makes it so universal. Even aspirations of Orissa, during the 19th and the Guru Nanaka had composed soulful hymns in early part of 20th centuries, when Orissa was praise of Lord Jagannath, when he had visited lying dismembered under three separate the temple. The sufi Muslims like Salbega and administrative units, namely, Bengal, Central Javan Haridas were great devotees of the Lord. Provinces and Madras. So it will be no The iconography of Jagannath has enabled exgaggeration to say that Temple of Jagannath every denomination to see the God of his heart's has veritably been the nerve centre of Orissan desire in Him. The all embracing liberalism of culture. the cult of Jagannath has also very intimately influenced the Orissan culture. Orissa, in the pre-Chodaganga period was divided into four district cultural and political divisions, namely, Utkal, Kangoda, Janmejaya Choudhury is the Lecturer in History, Kalinga and Kosala. Centering round Sri Jagannath College, Kaipadar, Khurda.

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