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HistoriCity | The treasures of Jagannath temple are in its shared history

Jul 18, 2024 09:00 AM IST

The temple town of Puri and its iconic Jagannath temple have given the English language a much-used word, ‘Juggernaut’, which is defined as an unstoppable force

The real treasures of the Jagannath temple lie in its long and shared historical journey, traversing its inception first as a tribal deity, through Jain, Buddhist, Shaiva and Vaishnava traditions, as well as past Mughal rule, during which time Shah Jahan paid obeisance through his representatives to its power and authority over this eastern region of the subcontinent.

Puri: Devotees gather to witness the 'golden attire' ritual of Lords Jagannath, Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra, in Puri, Wednesday, July 17, 2024. (PTI Photo)(PTI) PREMIUM
Puri: Devotees gather to witness the 'golden attire' ritual of Lords Jagannath, Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra, in Puri, Wednesday, July 17, 2024. (PTI Photo)(PTI)

The history of Puri and the Jagannath temple then is akin to that of India itself, for it is the site of the confluence of regions, religions, and traditions. It is the reign of Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva (1077-1150) who traced his lineage to the Eastern Ganga dynasty (493-1077 CE), that catalysed this intermixing like no other king.

The present temple of Jagannath (an incarnation of Lord Krishna), and his siblings Balabhadra and Subhadra, is believed to have been rebuilt by Anantavarman who incepted the medieval Gajapati (master of elephants) empire, that covered present-day Odisha, lower Ganga valley and coastal Andhra Pradesh. Interestingly, it is believed that Anantavarman was a Shaivaite before he became a follower of Sri Vaishnavism under the influence of his coeval, saint Ramanuja.

However, the origins of the deity are likely rooted in tribal cultures that existed long before the establishment of the Gajapati dynasty. This is discernible from various rituals that remain extant. From the wood of the Neem tree, revered by tribal groups which is used for carving idols, to the Rath Yatra ceremony which allows people from different strata of society to gain physical contact with the deities, and finally to the tribal priests who oversee various functions integral to the maintenance of the temple and worship. The wooden formless deity itself arguably has Buddhist roots, as the legend in the Skandapurana tells us that the ashes of Lord Krishna are symbolically preserved in the wooden deity. This is a practice unknown in most Hindu temples but is quite prevalent in Buddhism, as is evidenced by various holy sites containing Buddha’s relics that dot the Indian subcontinent. Similarly, the chariot festival too could be of Buddhist origin. A remarkably similar ceremony was first described by Xuanzang, the 7th-century Chinese traveller and Buddhist monk, who witnessed a grand procession of Buddha’s statue in Kannauj during King Harshavadhan’s reign (606 CE- 647 CE).

The tantric tradition also lays claim to Lord Jagannath and sees in the triad the manifestation of the fierce Bhairava form of Shiva and that of his consort, Durga or Shakti. On linkages with Jainism, Pandit Nilkantha Das, a major figure of the freedom movement and doyen of Odia arts and literature, believed that “Jagannath is primarily a Jaina institution”.

Invasions and attacks on the temple

Just as we see in contemporary politics, it was not uncommon among medieval kings to rule in the name of a god or a powerful deity and portray themselves as earthly incarnations of the divine. The wealth accumulated was stored in the state temple which often became symbols of the king’s rule.

By the 12th century, the Chodaganga dynasty had established its rule firmly over Odisha and its neighbouring region and acquired considerable wealth through maritime trade and territorial expansion, which it used to build many temples including the iconic Konark temple, dedicated to the sun god near Puri. The first raid on Puri and the temple is believed to have taken place at least five centuries before any Islamic invasion took place. According to the temple chronicle, ‘Madalapanji’, the Rashtrakuta king Govinda III (793 CE - 814 CE), defeated King Subhanadeva of Orissa and looted the temple while the king escaped with the idols that remained hidden in a safe place for more than a century, returning to Puri only after the demise of Govinda III.

The next recorded raid took place more than five hundred years later during the reign of Gajapati king Narasinghadeva III in 1340 CE by the Illias Shah, the Sultan of Bengal, once again the temple was plundered for its riches and its association with the Gajapati kings.

Soon after, Firoz Shah Tughluq too attacked the temple for the same reason. According to historian Richard M Eaton, “When Firoz Tughluq invaded Orissa in 1359 and learned that the region's most important temple was that of Jagannath located inside the raja's fortress in Puri, he carried off the stone image of the god and installed it in Delhi 'in an ignominious position'". For a few years, the temple remained at peace till 1568 when it suffered a terrible attack by the Afghan armies of Sultan Sulaiman Karrani of Bengal. The reasons for this raid were not purely for plunder but emanated from politics. "Just before the expedition was launched, the raja of Orissa, Mukunda Deva (1557–68), had entered into a pact with Akbar, Sulaiman‘s nominal overlord but actually his ultimate enemy. What is more, the raja had given refuge to Sulaiman‘s bitter rival for the Bengal throne, Ibrahim Sur, and had suggested to Akbar‘s envoy that he would gladly assist Ibrahim in his ambitions to conquer Bengal”, writes Eaton.

Sulaiman’s general Kalapahar wreaked havoc in Puri as the temple was “the focus of a state cult lavishly supported by the kings of Orissa‘s Gajapati dynasty”. Destroying the temple, a symbol of the dynasty was a calculated act to obliterate its rule.

After this last raid, the Jagannath temple faced at least ten more attacks, including by Kalyan Malla, the son of Raja Todar Mal, during emperor Jahangir’s reign in 1611. This attack too was to punish Purshottamadeva II, the then Gajapati King of Odisha who had resisted Mughal rule.

However, these were exceptions, as the Mughals had largely adopted a hands-off policy towards the religion of their subjects. “Between 1590 and 1735, Mughal officials repeatedly oversaw, and on occasions even initiated, the renewal of Orissa's state cult, that of Jagannath in Puri. By sitting on a canopied chariot while accompanying the cult's annual car festival, emperor Shah Jahan's officials ritually demonstrated that it was the Mughal emperor, operating through his appointed officers (mansabdars), who was the temple's-and hence the god's ultimate lord and protector”, writes Eaton.

The temple town of Puri and its iconic temple have given the English language a much-used word, ‘Juggernaut’, which is defined as an unstoppable phenomenon or force. Despite centuries of attacks and plunder, devotees’ belief in the temple remains invincible and continues to thrive; its power is even being invoked in relation to Donald Trump miraculously surviving an assassination attempt. This, ISKCON says, is because Lord Jagannath saved the ex-president since he allowed the construction of a chariot for a 1977 Rath Yatra at one of his land plots in New York.

HistoriCity is a column by author Valay Singh that narrates the story of a city that is in the news, by going back to its documented history, mythology and archaeological digs. The views expressed are personal

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