The Researchers’ - Special Issue - Volume I, Issue II, December-2015 ISSN: 2455-1503

International Journal of Research

Lord Jagannath: A Widespread Consciousness

The manifest of Lord Vishnu, Lord Jagannath is the presiding deity of Odisha. It is a deity
worshipped by Hindus and Buddhists, mainly in the Indian states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal,
Jharkhand, Bihar, Assam, Manipur and Tripura and by Hindus in Bangladesh. Jagannath is considered a
form of Vishnu or his avatar Krishna by the Hindus. Jagannath is worshipped as part of a triad on the
‘Ratnavedi’ (jewelled platform) along with his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra. The word
Jagannath itself signified that ‘Lord of the Universe’.1 From ancient times, Odisha has become the cradle
of several religious faiths. This land witnessed the growth of various religions like Jainism, Buddhism,
Saivism, Vaishnavism, Saktism etc. With gradual march of time all these faith were assimilated in one
faith i.e. the cult of Lord Jagannath which is quite unique in the cultural heritage of this land.2 From time
immemorial, Puri the district of Odisha has been recognised Srikshetra and Sankhakshetra and the deity
has been called Jagannath, Purusottam, the supreme
consciousness. Periodical rituals have been performed near
the deity with dignity and grandeur. It is believed that
Jagannath is a super natural being, although the deity itself
made of timbers. It is consider that an absolute being who is
beyond human thinking. Sanskrit Puranas highlighted the
Lord Jagannath as a Universal God and Universal
consciousness. Bamana Purana, Skanda Purana, Shiva
Purana, Bruhat Nrusingha Purana, Utkala Mahatmya,
Tantra Jamala, Brahma Purana , Kruma Purana , Padma
Purana, Narada Purana, Sarala Das Mahabharata etc highly glorify Purushottama kshetra and
Sankhakshetra.3

Many Puranas describes Lord Jagannath is a Universal deity and Srikshetra as a most holy place on the
earth. Shiva Purana says, “Purushottam is the only place on earth which can confer liberation from earthly
bondage, it is the place where the Supreme Lord has assumed wooden form”.4 The Sankha Kshetra or
Srikshetra Puri is one of the most important centre of Vaishnavism in India. Hindu devotees across the
country visited the Purushottama Kshetra to offer worship. Lord Jagannath has been accepted as the
representative of Odishan people, an embodiment of love, a guiding force behind the cultural heritage of
www.theresearchers.asia 11
The Researchers’ - Special Issue - Volume I, Issue II, December-2015 ISSN: 2455-1503
International Journal of Research

this land, a synthesis of all the Hinduite faiths and finally as the God of the Universe.5 Jagannath is the
symbol of unity and integrity of the all religions of the world. He neither represents any religion, division,
caste, region nor any country. He is above all. Jagatguru Aadi Sankaracharya has given privilege to the
four holy places of India Known as ‘Chaturdham’. In the east it is Puri, in the west it is Dwaraka, in the
north it is Badrinath and in the south it is Rameswaram. In the concept of Aadi Sankaracharya, Puri is the
prime and the foremost Dham among the four Dhams. The name of this Dham is otherwise known as
‘Mukti Dham’ and ‘Baikuntha Dham’ and it has its own special peculiarities. In this holy place Bhakta
Salabega, Dasia Bauri, Bandhu Mohanty, Guru Nanak, Jayadev, Ganapati Bhatta, Adi Sankaracharya
have their special emotions. This Dham of Lord Jagannath, Puri, has its own specialities which are not
found in any other God or Goddesses of other religions. The special quality of this Dham is that it has no
similarities with any Temple, Church, Masjid, Girja of any religion.6

The significance and uniqueness of this deity is that it is made up of a piece of Neem tree, what we called
‘Daru’ or ‘Mahadaru’ and the Lord is known as ‘Daru Debata’, whereas other deities are made with
rock, clay and metals. Except Lord Jagannath Dham in other places the Gods are worshipped with their
co-partner as Radha-Krishna, Rama-Sita, Laxmi-Narayan, Shiv-Parvati, where as in this Dham Lord
Jagannath is worshipped with his elder brother ‘Balabhadra’ and younger sister ‘Subhadra’. It represents
the universal brotherhood and human unity and integrity. It is unique that the deities have no specific
form but Jagannath is the first and the last God to give
‘Moksha’, that is why the sacred land Puri is universally
popular as the ‘Mukti Dham’. The form signifies that it
is a Universal deity. Its arm is called ‘Mahabahu’, its
eyes is called ‘Chakka Aakhi’. Two round eyes represent
nothingness of the world. The nine planets immersed in
the form of deity. In Ashadha Sukla Dwitiya the deities
move to their “Mausi Ghara” by the chariots. The
chariots have been pulled by the devotees irrespective of caste, creed and religion.7

Jagannath culture spread beyond the state into Tibet, Nepal, and Brahma Desh etc. Historian and
archaeologists have given data about the Lord Jagannath that many places across India there is a
Jagannath culture. Ancient Prome of Brahma Desh was named as Srikshetra. The Peg region of Burma
told that the word Ussa which is the convert of Odra or Odisha. Again in Balidwipa Shiva was known as
Jagannath and Shankha Chakra Gadapadma , Vishnu was treated as Purushottama and Avatar. In Nepal

www.theresearchers.asia 12
The Researchers’ - Special Issue - Volume I, Issue II, December-2015 ISSN: 2455-1503
International Journal of Research

there was also spread up Jagannath culture and consciousness. Still now there are many Jagannath temple
found in Nepal. In sixteenth century A.D. a Tibet historian Lama Taranath said that there was Jagannath
culture in Tibet. The rite and ritual of Srikshetra and Rathayatra observed till now. In America there are
lot of Jagannath temple, worshipped by American people. Like Srikshetra, they are also observing
Rathayatra with great enthusiasm and vigour. There was a saying Lord Jesus had came to Puri and stayed
there for some time. In Bible, the life sketch of Jesus told that near about twelve years Jesus was vanished
from Jerusalem. It is fact that Jesus was in the Srikshetra as said by the researcher. During his stay he
learned what Sanatana Hindu Dharma is and spread it among the disciples. The book “The unknown life
of Jesus Christ”, “Aquarian gospel of Jesus the Christ” and “The life and work of Jesus in India” proved
that Jesus was stayed in Puri.8

In spite of many cultural invasions by outsiders and cross cultural barriers by few insiders, Odisha is still
maintaining its ‘unique culture’ i.e. ‘Jagannath culture’ of “Unity in Diversity”. Odisha’s traditional
culture is a combination of varieties, so diversity is found in Jagannath culture. Diversity means
difference. It means collective differences, such differences mark off one group of people from other.
These differences may be biological, religious, linguistic etc. The cult of Lord Jagannath is a beautiful
combination of worldly and cosmic realities. The speciality of the cult is that all the religions of the world
have been merged within it to make it flexible, open and generous. Like all other religions it has not been
narrowed down itself within certain idealistic values and
principles. The cult is based upon peak ideals of
democracy, humanitarian principle of equality, justice,
honesty and integrity, which purely illustrates against the
conservative outlook of castism, sectarianism and any such
other barriers for attainment of complete universalism.
Therefore, Jagannath has been called the Lord of the whole
universe. There is no other religion in the world where a
common man sees his Lord as his own family member who
is an inseparable entity. It is based upon the beliefs of
Sarbajana Hitaya Sarbajana Sukhaya that the cult is meant for the sake of well being of entire humanity
of the universe.9

Lord Jagannath is known as Parambrahma. Brahma is the only Universal truth other things are illusion.
As Aadi Sankaracharya said ‘Brahman Satya, Jagat Mithya, Brahman Jibeiba Na Parah’. But it is the

www.theresearchers.asia 13
The Researchers’ - Special Issue - Volume I, Issue II, December-2015 ISSN: 2455-1503
International Journal of Research

only truth that Brahma has no shape, no colour, no gender and out of imagination what Jagannath
represents for.10 There is a controversy among the scholar and researcher regarding the evolution of
Jagannath culture and its antiquity. Many religions of the world had been immerging in the Jagannath
cult. It symbolises a highly electic spirit of synthesis of different Indian religions. Lord Jagannath is the
God of all religions. The Jainas see him as Jineswar their beloved lord and the Buddhists see him as
Buddha. Muslims like Kabir, Haridas, Salabega devoted their entire life before Lord Jagannath and sang
Bhajans and Janana in praise of the Lord.11Sankaracharya, Ramanuja, Kabir, Sri Chaitanya and Guru
Nanak have also visited Nilachal Dham and were greatly influenced by the assorted philosophy of
Jagannath cult which later moulded and shaped their teaching and preaching to a great extent. Dasia
Bauri, an untouchable, Hadi Das, a blacksmith, Jagannath Das, the famous poet of Bhakti movement and
Bandhu Mohanty an ardent devotee of the Lord are gifted with the divine blessings of the God.12The
Puranic text Purushottama Mahatmya of the Skanda Purana Contains the Indradyumna legend and the
origin of Jagannath's wooden idol at Puri. The Puranic texts corroborate that Jagannatha was originally a
deity of the aboriginal tribes and was known as Nila Madhava, his image being made of some sort of blue
stone. Later, the god manifested himself in the form of four wooden images that we worship now and
came to be known by the present-day names in an atmosphere of Vedic re-orientation. Thus, Jagannatha
is equally claimed by the aboriginal tribes and the Vedic Hindus to be their original deity of worship.
With the visit of Sri Chaitanya Vaishnavism find itself in a larger era. Several festivals associated with
Krishna cult like Krishna Janma, Nandostava, Kaliyadalana, Vakasuravadha, Chandan Yatra etc were
intimately associated with the festival of the temple of Lord Jagannath.13 The Sikh Guru Nanak was
influenced by Lord Jagannath for which he visited his temple at Puri. For the Sikh devotees two
monasteries had been built by the Sikhs. The devotees come and stay there for sacred Darshan of Lord
Jagannath. Even, the Sikhs have been allowed to perform certain rituals in the Jagannath temple. Santh
Kabir and Hari Das two Muslim devotees had come to Puri to get the blessings of Lord Jagannath. In
1512 A.D. Kabir arrived at Puri and in remembrance of his visit Kabir Chaura Monastery was built up in
the sea shore which is still standing there.14 Yavana Salabega had give importance to him. He had
composed many bhajanas for Jagannath. The three images of Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Subhadra, are
the identical representations of Buddha, Sangha and Dharma respectively of Buddhist Triad. Because of
the popularity of Jainism in Odisha, Balabhadra, Jagannath, and Subhadra have been regarded as the three
cardinal principles of Jainism like Samyak Jnana, Samyak Charitra,and Samyak Drishti. The concept of
Kalpa tree in Jainism is regarded as the Kalpavata inside the sacred complex of God Jagannath temple at
Puri. Kaivalya Mukti, one of the tenets of Jainism is identified with the Kaivalya (Mahaprasada) of Lord
Jagannath.15

www.theresearchers.asia 14
The Researchers’ - Special Issue - Volume I, Issue II, December-2015 ISSN: 2455-1503
International Journal of Research

Even to-day, Lord Jagannath is honoured and worshipped by the followers of different religious sects in
India and we Odias are fortunate enough to have a Lord who is the ‘Lord of the Universe’ and who has
given an identity to us in the whole world. The Chera Pahanra by the Gajapati King of Odisha, in front
of the Gods during Ratha Yatra in the presence of hundreds and thousands of devotees, proved the
popularity of this cult not only in Odisha but also in different parts of the country and abroad.

REFERENCES:

1. B. Tripathy, P.K. Singh, "Jagannath Cult in North-east India" Odisha Review, 2012, PP-24–27.
See also Jayanti Rath. "Jagannath- The Epitome of Supreme Lord Vishnu".
2. Harihar Panda, “History of Orissa”, Cuttack, 2008, p-157.
3. Atul Chandra Pradhan, “Jagannath Dharma”, Odisha Review, 2015, p-83.
4. Ibid.p-84.
5. Harihara Panda, Op.cit. P-183.
6. Pradeep Kumar Choudhury, “Shree Jagannath : Lord of the Universe”, Odisha Review, 2015, p-
1.
7. Ibid. pp-2-5.
8. Surendra Kumar Maharana, “Odia Sahityare Dharmadhara”, Cuttack, 1996, pp-419-420.
9. Chinmayee Satpathy, “Cult of Lord Jagannath and Ideals of Human Philosophy” Odisha
Review, 2007, p-56.
10. Archana Kanungo, “Unity in Diversity:-The Uniqueness of Jagannath Culture of Odisha”,
Odisha Review, 2013, pp-57-66.
11. Damodar Pradhani, “Purusottama Sri Jagannath and Universal Religion”, Odisha Review, 2014,
p-90. See also Shisir Kumar Panda, “Evolution of Jagannath Cult”, in P.K. Mishra, J.K.Samal,
“Comprehensive History and Culture of Orissa”, New Delhi, 2010,pp-541-545.
12. Ganeswar Jena, “Lord Jagannath:-Presiding Deity of Nilachala Dham, the Lord of the
Universe”, Odisha Review, 2010, p-8. See also Shisir Kumar Panda, Op.cit.
13. Harihar Panda, Op.cit. p-186.
14. Damodar Pradhani, Op.cit. pp-91-93. See also Shisir Kumar Panda, Op.cit.
15. Harihar Panda, Op.cit. p-186.

www.theresearchers.asia 15