| Type: | Hindu |
| Jagannatha | |
| Affiliation: | Vaishnavism, Para Brahman |
| Weapon: | Sudarshana Chakra |
| Siblings: | Balabhadra and Subhadra |
| Abode: | Nilachal |
| Mount: | Garuda |
| Mantra: | Om Jagannāthāya Namah |
| Symbols: | Panchajanya |
| Sa: | जगन्नाथ (Jagannātha) |
| Or: | ଜଗନ୍ନାଥ (Jagannātha) |
| Bn: | জগন্নাথ (Jôgônnāth) |
| As: | জগন্নাথ (Zôgônnāth) |
| Hi: | जगन्नाथ (Jagannāth) |
| Kn: | ಜಗನ್ನಾಥ(Jagannātha) |
Jagannatha (Oriya: ଜଗନ୍ନାଥ|lit=Lord of the Universe|Jagannātha; formerly English: [[Juggernaut]]) is a deity worshipped in regional Hindu traditions in India as part of a triad along with his (Krishna's) brother Balabhadra, and sister, Subhadra. Jagannath, within Odia Hinduism, is the supreme god, Purushottama, and the Para Brahman. To most Vaishnava Hindus, particularly the Krishnaites, Jagannath is an abstract representation of Krishna, sometimes as the avatar of Vishnu. To some Shaiva and Shakta Hindus, he is a symmetry-filled tantric form of Bhairava, a fierce manifestation of Shiva associated with annihilation.[1]
The Jagannathism (Odia Vaishnavism) — the particular sector of Jagannath as a major deity — emerged in the Early Middle Ages and later became an independent state regional temple-centered tradition of Krishnaism/Vaishnavism.
The idol of Jagannath is a carved and decorated wooden stump with large round eyes and a symmetric face, and the idol has a conspicuous absence of hands or legs. The worship procedures, sacraments and rituals associated with Jagannath are syncretic and include rites that are uncommon in Hinduism.[2] Unusually, the icon is made of wood and replaced with a new one at regular intervals.
The origin and evolution of Jagannath worship is unclear. Some scholars interpret hymn 10.155.3 of the Rigveda as a possible origin, but others disagree and state that it is a syncretic/synthetic deity with tribal roots. The English word juggernaut was the rendition into English of "Jagannath" by early British in India, and came to mean a very large and unstoppable force from accounts of the famous Ratha Yatra processions in Puri.
Jagannath is considered a non-sectarian deity.[3] [4] He is significant regionally in the Indian states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Gujarat, Assam, Manipur and Tripura.[5] He is also significant to the Hindus of Bangladesh. The Jagannath temple in Puri, Odisha is particularly significant in Vaishnavism, and is regarded as one of the Char Dham pilgrimage sites in India.[6] The Jagannath temple is massive, over 200feet high in the Nagara architecture style of Hindu temple architecture, and one of the best surviving specimens of Kalinga architecture, namely Odisha art and architecture. It has been one of the major pilgrimage destinations for Hindus since about 800 CE.[7]
The annual festival called the Ratha yatra celebrated in June or July every year in eastern states of India is dedicated to Jagannath. His image, along with the other two associated deities, is ceremoniously brought out of the sacrosanctum (Garbhagruha) of his chief temple in Puri (Oriya: ଶ୍ରୀ ମନ୍ଦିର,). They are placed in a temple car which is then pulled by numerous volunteers to the Gundicha Temple (located at a distance of nearly). They stay there for eight days, and on the 9th day they are returned to the main temple. Coinciding with the Ratha Yatra festival at Puri, similar processions are organized at Jagannath temples throughout the world. During the festive public procession of Jagannath in Puri lakhs of devotees visit Puri to see Jagganath in chariot.[8]
Jagannath is a Sanskrit word, compounded of jagat meaning "universe" and nātha meaning "Master" or "Lord". Thus, Jagannath means "lord of the universe".[9]
In the Odia language, Jagannath is linked to other names, such as Jagā (ଜଗା) or Jagabandhu (ଜଗବନ୍ଧୁ) ("Friend of the Universe"). Both names derive from Jagannath. Further, on the basis of the physical appearance of the deity, names like Kalia (କାଳିଆ) ("The Black-coloured Lord", but which can also mean "the Timely One"), Darubrahman (ଦାରୁବ୍ରହ୍ମ) ("The Sacred Wood-Riddle"), Dāruēdebatā (Oriya: ଦାରୁ ଦେବତା "The wooden god"), Chakā ākhi (Oriya: ଚକା ଆଖି) or Chakānayan (Oriya: ଚକା ନୟନ "With round eyes"), Cakāḍōḷā (Oriya: ଚକା ଡୋଳା "with round pupils") are also in vogue.[10] [11] [12]
According to Dina Krishna Joshi, the word may have origins in the tribal word Kittung of the Sora people (Savaras). This hypothesis states that the Vedic people as they settled into tribal regions adopted the tribal words and called the deity Jagannath.[13] According to O.M. Starza, this is unlikely because Kittung is phonetically unrelated, and the Kittung tribal deity is produced from burnt wood and looks very different from Jagannath.
The icon of Jagannath in his temples is a brightly painted, rough-hewn log of neem wood.[14] The image consists of a square flat head, a pillar that represents his face merging with the chest. The icon lacks a neck, ears, and limbs, is identified by a large circular face symbolizing someone who is anadi (without beginning) and ananta (without end).[15] Within this face are two big symmetric circular eyes with no eyelids, one eye symbolizing the sun and the other the moon, features traceable in 17th-century paintings. He is shown with an Urdhva Pundra, the Vaishnava U-shaped mark on his forehead. His dark color and other facial features are an abstraction of the cosmic form of the Hindu god Krishna, states Starza. In some contemporary Jagannath temples, two stumps pointing forward in hug-giving position represent his hands. In some exceptional medieval and modern era paintings in museums outside India, such as in Berlin states Starza, Jagannath is shown "fully anthropomorphised" but with the traditional abstract mask face.
The typical icon of Jagannath is unlike other deities found in Hinduism who are predominantly anthropomorphic. However, aniconic forms of Hindu deities are not uncommon. For example, Shiva is often represented in the form of a Shiva linga. In most Jagannath temples in the eastern states of India, and all his major temples such as the Puri, Odisha, Jagannath is included with his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra. Apart from the principal companion deities, the Jagannath icon shows a Sudarshana Chakra and sometimes under the umbrella cover of multiheaded Sesha Naga, both linking him to Vishnu.
When shown with Balabhadra and Subhadra, he is identifiable from his circular eyes compared to the oval or almond shape of the other two abstract icons. Further, his icon is dark, while Balabhadra's face is white, and Subhadra's icon is yellow. The third difference is the flat head of Jagannath icon, compared to semi-circular carved heads of the other two.[16] They are accompanied by the Sudarshana Chakra, the iconic weapon of Vishnu. It is approximately the same height as Balabhadra, is red in colour, carved from a wooden pillar and clothed, unlike its traditional representation as a chakra in other Vishnu temples.[17] Jagannath iconography, when he is depicted without companions, shows only his face, neither arms nor torso. This form is sometimes called Patita Pavana,[18] or Dadhi Vaman.[19]
The murtis of Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarshana Chakra are made of neem wood.[20] Neem wood is chosen because the Bhavishya Purana declares it to be the most auspicious wood from which to make Vishnu murtis.[21] The idol of Jagannatha, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarshana is re-painted every week in the Jagannatha Temple, Puri. It is replaced with a newly carved image every 12 or 19 years approximately, or more precisely according to the luni-solar Hindu calendar when its month of Asadha occurs twice in the same year.[22]
In the Jagannath tradition (Odia Vaishnavism), Jagannath is most frequently identified with an abstract form of Krishna as the supreme deity.[23]
Jagannath is considered as equivalent to the Hindu metaphysical concepts of Brahman/Para Brahman and Purushottama/Shunya Purusha, wherein he then is the Avatarī, i.e., the cause and equivalence of all avatars and the infinite existence in space and time.[24] According to author Dipti Ray in Prataparudra Deva, the Suryavamsi King of Odisha:
In the Jagannath tradition, he has the attributes of all the avatars of Krishna/Vishnu. This belief is celebrated by dressing him and worshipping him as different avatars on special occasions.[25] The Puranas relate that the Narasimha Avatar of Vishnu appeared from a wooden pillar. It is therefore believed that Jagannath is worshipped as a wooden murti or Daru Brahma with the Shri Narasimha hymn dedicated to the Narasimha Avatar.[26] Every year in the month of Bhadra, Jagannath is dressed and decorated in the form of the Vamana avatar of Vishnu.[24] Jagannath appeared in the form of Rama, another avatar of Vishnu, to Tulsidas, who worshipped him as Rama and called him Raghunath during his visit to Puri in the 16th century.[27]
Sometimes one regards him as one of the avatars (incarnations) of Krishna (i.e., Buddha-Jagannath) or Vishnu (i.e., Vamana).[28] His name does not appear in the traditional Dashavatara (ten avatars) of Vishnu,[29] though in certain Odia literature, Jagannath has been treated as the avatar of Krishna, as a substitute for or the equivalent of the avatar Buddha from Dashavatara.
Outside Vaishnava tradition, Jagannath is considered the epitome of Tantric worship.[30] The symmetry in iconography, the use of mandalas and geometric patterns in its rites support the tantric connection proposal.
Jagannath is venerated as Bhairava or Shiva, the consort of the goddess Vimala, by Shaivites and Shakta sects.[1] The priests of Jagannath Temple at Puri belong to the Shakta sect, although the Vaishnava sect's influence predominates. As part of the triad, Balabhadra is also considered to be Shiva and Subhadra, a manifestation of Durga. In the Markandeya Purana the sage Markandeya declared that Purushottama Jagannath and Shiva are one.[31] Jagannath in his Hathi Besha or Gaja Besha (elephant form) has been venerated by devotees like Ganapati Bappa of Maharashtra as Ganesha.[27]
According to the Purushottama Kshetra Mahatmya (part of Vaiṣṇava Khaṇḍa, a later 12th century addition to the Skanda Purana[32]) of the Skanda Purana, the deity Yama requested Vishnu to disappear from the region of Purushottama Kshetra, dissatisfied with the direct salvation of those who lived in the region. Vishnu agreed to do so. Indradyumna, the king of Avanti, grew interested in venerating the deity Nilamadhava, made of sapphire.[33] He is described to have sent the younger brother of his royal priest, or sometimes a minister, Vidyapati, to locate the site of the deity's image in the Nilagiri region. Regional folklore states that the priest was welcomed by Vishvavasu, the chieftain of the Savara people. During the duration of his stay in the chieftain's house, the latter's daughter, Lalita, fell in love with him. Upon the chieftain's request, Vidyapati married her. He noticed that the chieftain would leave the house every evening, and only return the following noon. At his urging, Lalita revealed to him that these were her father's visits to the shrine of Nilamadhava, whose location was held secret within the community. Vidyapati persuaded his wife to ask Vishvavasu to take him along to see the image of the deity.[34] The chieftain agreed to take Vidyapati with him, but on the condition that he be blindfolded during the journey so that the shrine's location remained undisclosed. Lalita helped her husband devise a plan:[35] Vidyapati brought a bag of mustard seeds with him, scattering them all along the path to the shrine present in a cave, bearing witness to the deep blue image of Nilamadhava.[36] [37] Returning to Avanti, he reported his discovery of the shrine to Indradyumna. After a few months, following the mustards seeds that had since germinated into plants, the king and his retinue travelled to the shrine, unable to locate the image. After praying to Vishnu for three days and nights, they heard the deity's voice thunder from the heavens, rebuking them for their scheme and informing them of his omnipresence. He announced that he would manifest as a dāru (wooden image) floating by the sea. He instructed them to construct a new temple upon a mountain that stood beside the seashore for his worship.[38]
In the Skanda Purana, by the time Vidyapati returned to inform the king of the site of the shrine, a great storm had buried the image of Nilamadhava under the sand. Despite his best attempts, the king was unable to locate the image. Upon the counsel of the sage divinity Narada, Indradyumna constructed a new temple, and performed a thousand ashvamedha yajnas at the site. Receiving guidance in the form of a divine dream, a great tree floating in the sea was felled and used to create the three wooden images of the temple, those of Jagannatha, Balarama, and Subhadra. The king travelled to Brahmaloka to invite Brahma to inaugurate the temple. With the passage of time, a king named Gala claimed to have been the temple's real architect, but with the return of Indradyumna to earth, he withdrew this claim. After Brahma had inaugurated the temple, Indradyumna returned to Brahmaloka, entrusting the upkeep of the site to Gala.[39] [40]
In hymn 10.155 of the Rigveda, there is mention of a Daru (wooden log) floating in the ocean as apurusham.[41] Acharya Sayana interpreted the term apurusham as same as Purushottama and this Dara wood log being an inspiration for Jagannath, thus placing the origin of Jagannath in 2nd millennium BCE. Other scholars refute this interpretation stating that the correct context of the hymn is "Alaxmi Stava" of Arayi.
According to Bijoy Misra, Puri natives do call Jagannatha as Purushottama, consider driftwood a savior symbol, and later Hindu texts of the region describe the Supreme Being as ever present in everything, pervasive in all animate and inanimate things. Therefore, while the Vedic connection is subject to interpretation, the overlap in the ideas exist.
Theories suggesting Buddhist origins of Jagannatha stems from the relic worship associated with Jagannatha, a concept integral to Buddhism but alien to Hinduism. For example, there exists an unexamined relic in the Jagannath shrine in Puri, and the local legends state that the shrine relic contains a tooth of Gautama Buddha – a feature common to many cherished Theravada Buddhist shrines in and outside India.[42] [43] According to Datha-dhatu-vamsa, as mentioned in Culavamsa, Buddha's left canine tooth was handed over to Brahmadatta by a disciple, which eventually gave rise to dissensions between the kings of Kalinga and Pataliputra in 3rd century CE, and the tooth relic was shifted to Sri Lanka by weighing anchor in Tamralipta. According to Ganguly, it is absurd to imagine that the prince chose the farthest harbor from the capital even though there were intermediate harbors from which it would have been easier to set out on his voyage. Buddhism anciently prevailed in Odisha as appears from the Buddhist remains still existing. The idols of Jagannatha is believed to contain the bones of Krishna even though it forms no part of the Brahmanical religion to collect and adore dead men's bones while it is a most meritorious act among the Buddhists to collect and preserve the relics of departed saints, and the places that contain them are esteemed peculiarly holy. In Buddhism, preserving cetiya or skeletal parts such as "Buddha's tooth" or relics of dead saints is a thriving tradition. The existence of these legends, state some scholars such as Stevenson, suggests that Jagannath may have a Buddhist origin.
Another evidence that links Jagannath deity to Buddhism is the Ratha-Yatra festival for Jagannath, the stupa-like shape of the temple and a dharmachakra-like discus (chakra) at the top of the spire. The major annual procession festival has many features found in the Mahayana Buddhism traditions. Faxian (c. 400 CE), the ancient Chinese pilgrim and visitor to India wrote about a Buddhist procession in his memoir, and this has very close resemblances with the Jagannath festivities. Further the season in which the Ratha-Yatra festival is observed is about the same time when the historic public processions welcomed Buddhist monks for their temporary, annual monsoon-season retirement.[44]
There is no distinction of caste inside the Jagganath temple, many day-to-day services (Vidhis) of Lord Jagannatha owe their origin either to Jainism or to Buddhism or the combination of both, the local legends link the idols with aborginal tribes and the daitapatis (servitors) claim to be descendants of the aboriginals. Majority of rituals are based on Oddiyana Tantras which are the refined versions of Mahayana Tantras as well as Shabari Tantras which are evolved from Tantric Buddhism and tribal believes respectively.[45] According to Starza, these practices are also connected to Tantric practices.
Buddha was assimilated as Vishnu's ninth avatar in Vishnu Puran as a divinely incarnated purveyor of illusion. It states that Vishnu's "descent" as the Buddhavatara was accomplished so that the wicked and demonic could be only further misled away from the truth in kali yuga. This assimilation and the consequent disingenuous interpretation or rationale for his inclusion aptly articulate the considerable ambivalence characteristic of Hindu attitudes towards Buddhism, undermining his historicity, to make him an appendage of the Vaisnava mythic hierarchy. But in the opening chapter of his Gita Govinda, the poet Jayadeva claims that Vishnu reincarnated as the Buddha to condemn the animal sacrifices prevalent in Vedic times. In the Jagannath cult, Jagannath is sometimes represented as the ninth avatar of Vishnu substituting Buddha, when it could have been substituted for any other avatar.[46] [47] [48]
According to Starza, these manifestation of the Jagannath cult, such as the supposed tooth relic of Buddha, the Ratha-Yatra, the absence of caste rules in the temple and the identification of Jagannath with Buddha avatar are not sufficient to establish a Buddhist origin of the worship of Jagannath.
Indrabhuti, the ancient Buddhist king of Oddiyana, describes Jagannath as a Buddhist deity in Jñānasiddhi. This is the oldest known direct mention of the deity.[49] This is not unique to the coastal state of Odisha, but possibly also influenced Buddhism in Nepal and Tibet. Shakyamuni Buddha is also worshipped as Jagannath in Nepal.[50] Abhinav Patra argues that it has not been historically ascertained whether the deity Jagannath as worshipped by Indrabhuti was just a coincidental homonym with the present Jagannath or referred to the same deity. The 10th century era text Kubjikāmatatantra, mentions Viraja (ancient capital of Utkala[51]) as the goddess of Oddiyana, with which Indrabhuti's son Padmasambhava is associated with. The Saddharmapundarika records a prophecy in which the Lord assures Śāriputra, that he would be in a distant future time a Buddha under the name of Padmaprabha, and that his place of enlightenment would be Viraja. Padmasambhava and Tārā, along with other deities are invoked in an inscription of 25 lines incised in nail-headed characters of the late 8th-9th century on the back of an image of Lokeśvara/Mahākaruṇā at Udaygiri not far from Jajpur, which states that a stupa with a relic inside and dwelt in by the Tathāgata was set up on that very spot. The stupa is believed to have contained the relics of Padmasambhava. Though the site is only partially excavated, at least one stupa has been unearthed. According to Nabin Kumar Sahu, this mass of evidence, supports the belief that Indrabhuti was the king of Odisha which is same as Oddiyana or Odra-pitha, of which the main deities are Jagganath and Viraja.[52] [53]
Some scholars argue that evidences of Jagannatha's Buddhist nature are found from Medieval Odia Literature. Many medieval Odia poets suggest to their readers, that they wrote their books on the commands of a formless god-like personality, identifying the Buddhist principles of Sunya (The great void) and Alekha (The formless one) with Jagannath himself. The idols of Jagannath triad are not anthropomorphic like hindu idols, but instead are stumps of wood with crude symbolic facial features and stumpy obtrusions for limbs.
Odia poet Sarala Dasa of 15th century in his Mahabharata describes Jagannatha as Buddha but not as any other avatar of Vishnu: