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Home , Jagannath, Purushottama, Sarala Das

Orissa Review June - 2004

Evolution of Cult

Dr. Atul Chandra Pradhan

he Origin of Lord Jagannath, the presiding into wooden form, landed at the sea shore; Tdeity of the holy city of Puri, around whom Jara Sabara, an aborigine, picked it up and the religious life of Orissa has evolved from worshipped it; subsequently, , the hoary past has been shrouded in myths and king of Somavamsa, got three wooden images legends. Analysing the legendary association made out of the log and built a temple for the of Jagannath with a class of aborigines, called deities. According to Deula Tola, Sabaras, the peculiar nature of the wooden icon Indradyumna, the king of Malava, got piece of of the deity and his associates, and sacred wood, which was the metamorphosed , and association of a class of non- shape of Nilamadhava from the Sabara priests, called Daita, who are chief, named Visvavasu, and out of the wood presumed to be of tribal origin with the worship he carved three images. Both the stories suggest of the deity, some scholars hold that Jagannath the Vaishnavite origin of Jagannath. But was originally a tribal deity. Anncharlott Indradyumna, the hero of these legends remains Eschmann holds that the Navakalevar ritual, a legendary figure, and his historicity cannot i.e. the ceremony of periodical renewal of the be established on any safe ground. Some have deity, is a tribal custom. Such practices of identified him with the Indradyumna of original renewal of wooden deity are to be found among Mahabharat and considered him to be quite the primitive tribes like Saoras and Khonds. an ancient figure of pre-Christian era. If we If Lord Jagannath was tribal in origin, at accept the version of Sarala Dasa's what stage and how was he metamorphosed Mahabharat, we may feel inclined to identify into a Hinduised deity ? The legends regarding him with Indraratha, the Somavamsi king of the origin of Jagannath, which have been tenth century A.D. But indentification of recorded in various sources such as Indradyumna with Indraratha is at variance with Mahabharat of , Deula Tola of the long-accepted tradition, that Yayati-I, the Nilambar Das, Skanda Purana, remote predecessor of Indraratha, built the Purana, Purana, Padma Purana, Jagannath temple at Puri. etc. suggest the tribal as well Some scholars trace a Buddhist origin as Brahmanical links of the deity in the initial of the trinity of the Jagannath temple. It is said stage. According to Sarala Das's Mahabharat, that the tooth relic of Lord Buddha is preserved the dead body of Lord , transformed in the image of Jagannath, that the three deities

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- Jagannath, Subhadra and Balabhadra - considers the Jagannath figure to be . represent Buddha, and Sangha She says, "Narasimha is that iconological respectively, that the Snana (bathing aspect of Jagannath, which recedes in the later festival) and yatra (car festival) of the ; it can be easily associated with tribal Jagannath temple are of Buddhist origin and cults, and was probably instrumental for the that the sharing of (sacred food) on development of the Jagannath iconography." equal footing by all castes is due to the It is accepted by most of the scholars Buddhist impact. There are some literary that in the earliest phase Jagannath was known evidence of co-relation between Lord as . "Vishnudharma", an Jagannath and . According to some unpublished manuscript of 3rd century scholars, Jagannath is a common epithet of A.D., says that Krishna was known as Buddha. In , one of the names of Buddha Purushottama in the Odra country. Vaman is Jagannath. , the twelfth century Puran, a work of seventh century A.D., refers Vaishnava poet who, according to some to the Purushottama deity at Puri. scholars, identified Jagannath with Krishna or also accepted Buddha as the ninth Anargharaghava natakam of Murari Misra, incarnation of Krishna or Vishnu. Sarala Das, which, according to some scholars, is a work the fifteenth century poet, in his Mahabharat of the middle or later part of ninth century A.D. regarded Jagannath as an embodiment of describes Purushottama deity of Puri with his Buddha. He wrote, "To deliver mankind, female consort, Kamala, on lap. The Sarada Jagannath has manifested himself in the form temple inscription of Maihar (in the Satna of Buddha." Daru Brahma Gita of Jagannath district of Madhya Pradesh), which is assigned Das says, "To assume the form of Buddha the to the middle of the tenth century A.D., also Lord gave up his hands and legs." Some Oriya refers to the Purushottama deity of Odra- Vaishnavas regarded Chaitanya as the partial country, located on the sea-shore. The literary manifestation of Buddha. In the Chaitanya and epigraphic sources affirm the reputation of Isvar Dasa, Chaitanya is of the Purushottama deity of Puri in the tenth reported to have said, "I am Chaitanya in the century A.D. Such was the importance of the form of Buddha." Evidently there was a deity of Puri, when the Somavamsi rule was synthesis between Buddhism and established in the coastal belt in the tenth century at some stage, and Jagannath cult bears the A.D., that Yayati-I (922 A.D.-955 A.D.) had imprint of that synthesis. to construct a temple for the deity. Some scholars are of the opinion that some sculptural Even if we accept the hypothesis that remains of the Somavamsi period are still to Jagannath was originally a tribal deity or be found in the premises of the Jagannath Buddhist deity or both, we can not rule out the temple. As the Somavamsis were primarily possibility of his metamorphosis into Vishnu Saivites, the shrine of Purushottama appears or Krushna at quite an early stage. Eschmann to have been neglected during the Somavamsi holds that in his earliest form as an image of period. Vishnu, Jagannath was known as Nrusimha the Lion incarnation of Vishnu. Her contention is Though by the tenth century A.D., the based on the fact that the Navakalevar ritual presiding deity of Puri was known as

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Purushottama, which is one of thousand The propagation of Vaishnavism by epithets of Vishnu, yet during the Bhauma early in the twelfth century A.D. period, the deity appears to have been resulted in the reinforcement of the profoundly influenced by Saivism, , Vaishnavism of Orissa which had grown around Tantricism and Buddhism which were Purushottama - Jagannath, the incarnation of simultaneously prevalent. Scholars are of the Vishnu. Such was the predominance of the cult opinion that the image of Jagannath has striking of Purushottama-Jagannath that similarity with that of Chodagangadeva, the founder of Ganga empire (Bhairava with one foot, which is a in Utkal, had to erect a temple for him and manifestation of Siva, whose worship was another for his consort, , even though prevalent during the Bhauma period). Some in his private life Chodagangadeva remined a Tantrik texts refer to Puri as a seat of Shaktism, devotee of Siva. The Ganga period saw the Vimala as the and Jagannath as his recognition of Jagannath as the patron deity of Bhairava. The prevalence of Saivism at Puri the royal family. A powerful Ganga Monarch is proved by the existence of such Saiva shrines like Anangabhima-III, called his empire the as Markandeyesvara, Patalesvara and Purushottam Samrajya (the empire of Lokanath. The prevalence of Shaktism at Puri Purushottama) and himself the Rauta or is borne out by the worship of Vimala inside representative of Purushottama. The same the temple, and the existence of Saptamatruka importance of Purushottama-Jagannath image. The 'Utkal Khanda' of Skanda Purana continued in the Suryavamsi period. Kapilendradeva, the founder of Suryavamsi describes Subhadra as the Shakti of Jagannath. empire, invoked the name of Jagannath in the The name 'Purushottama', though an day-to-day administration of the state. He epithet of Vishnu, has Tantrik significance prayed to the deity for permission to punish according to some scholars. It represents the some recalcitrant or rebellious officers of the erotic aspect of Vishnu. Purushottama is to be State. Kapilendradeva constructed the outer found with Lakshmi, the female erotic partner. wall of the Jagannath temple in his fifteenth In the Anargharaghava natakam, Murari regnal year. Purushottamadeva, the son and Mishra describes Purushottama with Lakshmi successor of Kapilendra, was greatly devoted on his lap. Jayadeva, in his Gitagovinda, dealt to Jagannath for singing whose glory he wrote with erotic sports of Krishna with , and Abhinava Gitagovindam. According to the identified Radha with Kamala or Lakshmi, the tradition, recorded in the Madalapanji, Lord consort of . Jayadeva also regarded Jagannath helped Purushottama, to conquer Jagannath as Krishna. Subhadra was treated Kanchi and marry Padmavati, the daughter of as Lakshmi during the Ganga period, and the Kanchi ruler. During the reign of afterwards. The Purushottama Mahatmya of Prataparudra, Shrichaitanya came to Orissa in Skanda Purana (a work of 13th century A.D.) 1509 A.D. Shrichaitanya completed the and of Vishnurahasya (a work of 16th century process of identification of Jagannath with A.D.) referred to the female wooden image Krishna which had been begun by Jayadeva. between Jagannath and Balabhadra as During Ganga and Suryavamsi periods Lakshmi. kingship and cult of Jagannath got interwoven.

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Calling themselves the Rauta of Lord Jagannath References : the kings justified their action in the name of 1. M.N. Das (ed.), Sidelights on History and Lord Jagannath. In the words of H. Kulke Culture of Orissa, , 1977. "kingship became part of the cult and the cult 2. N.K. Sahu, Buddhism in Orissa, Utkal became part of the Orissan kingship and its University, 1958. main source of legitimation." 3. K.C. Mishra, The Cult of Jagannath, Calcutta, 1971. Jagannath cult exercises deep influence 4. Prabhat Mukherji, The History of Medieval over the socio-religious-political life of Orissa. Vaishnavism in Orissa, Calcutta, 1940. During the Ganga and rules, Jagannath, 5. R.P. Mahapatra, Jaina Monuments of Orissa, so to say, became the State deity. Jagannath New Delhi, 1984. cult is an amalgam of diverse religious cults 6. A. Eschmann, et.al. The Culture of Jagannath like tribal religion, Brahmanical religion, and the Regional Tradition of Orissa, New Buddhism, Saivism, Shaktism, Tantricism and Delhi, 1978. Vaishnavism. Puri has been visited from ancient 7. G.N. Mahapatra, Jagannath in History and Religious Tradition, Calcutta, 1982. times by founders of different religious cults, who left their legacy through the monasteries. 8. B.M. Padhi, Daru Devata (Oriya), Cuttack, 1964. It has become one of the four important places 9. L.K. Panda, Saivism in Orissa, New Delhi, of for the devout not only 1985. of Orissa but also of all parts of . Largest 10. H.S. Patnaik, Lord Jagannath, His Temple, crowds of devotees are to be noticed in Puri Cult and Festivals, New Delhi, 1994. at the time of the car festival of Lord Jagannath. It is the belief of Hindus that on seeing Lord Jagannath, the manifestation of supreme being, in his chariot one never falls into the mire of Dr. Atul Chandra Pradhan is the Professor of History the cycle of rebirth. in Utkal University, Vani Vihar, Bhubaneswar.

IMPORTANT TELEPHONE NUMBERS OF PURI TOWN

Srimandira Office Control Room - 222002 Srimandira Office (Garada) - 222001 Administrator, Srimandira - 223002 Information Centre, Singhadwara - 220901 Information Centre, Srigundicha Mandir -232507 Control Room, Collectorate - 223714 Control Room, S.P. Office - 223940 / 223558 / 222058 Police Outpost, Srimandira - 223470 Town Police Station - 222039/100

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