Yesterday, we read about the
legends and myths associated with the Lord Jagannath, Lord of the universe, and
the chariot procession. Today we will read about its origin and the cult of the
Jagannath worship.
The legend of
King Indradyumna is taken from the Skanda Purana, besides the same being
referred in many other Puranas like Padma Purana, Brahma Purana and Narada
Purana amongst some of them. We are also told that Lord Jagannath is mentioned
in the Vedas and King Indrayumna was some Vedic figure. The Rig Veda has some
hymns which refer to the floating of a wooden log from which was carved out the
idol of Jagannath.
What is
interesting is the idols of the triad. Usually the idols of all gods in the
Hindu pantheon are well defined and perfectly carved or painted. But the idols
at Jagannath temple are not so. It is not shapely and is like a wooden stump
with large round eyes, painted in dark garish colours and the lack of body.
However, all this has been associated with the story of the unfinished idols.
But at the end of the day, it has looks which defy its association with the
prevailing Hindu gods and goddesses.
A Savara couple |
Many scholars
have opined that the worship of Jagannath has tribal origins. In the myths
discussed yesterday, there has been mention of a Savara tribe, who were
considered to be the earliest inhabitants of the Odisha. The Savaras were a
tree worshiping tribe, which was a very common mode of worship (tree or stumps
which resemble a tree-like structure), for many tribes in the world. The
Savaras used to worship trees, and singing and dancing in front of their god, Jaganata, was part of the rituals. The
scholars feel that with the migration of the Aryan communities in such areas,
the ritual harmonised into a common festival and the tribal Jaganata soon metamorphosed into the aryanised Jagannath, with Vedic and
Puranic attachments.
Another very interesting
aspect of this is the sudden emergence of a triad from the single god. All
myths begin with a single god, be it Nilamadhava or Jaganata. But somewhere the
single god transforms into a triad. One of the versions given by scholars was
that in the earlier days the Lord Jagannath was seen with his consort, Lakshmi.
Somewhere, to appease a section of the Shaivas, Balabhadra or Balarama was
added to the couple, but this posed another problem. According to the Oriya
convention, the elder brother could not see the face of the younger brother’s
wife. This convention made the consort make way for the sister, Subhadra in
this case! Such things happen to accommodate more deities or could even be an
act of appeasement of other communities or tribes in the widely followed cult.
Nila Madhava Temple at Kantilo |
According to
some British scholars, the association of the colour blue, Nila, in the myths of Nilamadhava
and Nilanchal, could be ascribed to
the common use of the easily available blue coloured stones which were usually
used for making idols during the ancient times. In the earlier days, the gods
were offered raw and uncooked food. With the slow aryanisation, the rituals of worship has become more Brahminical
and cooked food is offered to the deities today. But a close scrutiny of the
rituals will reveal that a lot of practices of tribal origin still prevail. It
is pertinent to mention here that the worship of the original Nila Madhava is
prevalent in the hill-top region of Brahmachala, on the banks of the River Mahanadi
at Kantilo, in Nayagarh district of Odisha even today!
Finally, the
worship of Jagannath is performed by a tribal community who are the hereditary
servitors of the Lord. They also observe the funeral rites of the Lord during
the Nava Kalevar and also own all
responsibility of the yatra. What is
further interesting is that these priests are non-Brahmin, which goes on to
show that though the Aryans went on to own the deity, the tribal community
continued to own the rights to serve the deity.
The Jagannath
worship is a classic example of synthesis of two different cultures and
background and a harmonised association of both coexisting in modern times. A
perfect coexistence of Vaishnavite and Tribal cults. This could be one rare
instance of a tribal deity being given such prominence in the Hindu pantheon,
even though its prominence has Vedic and Puranic leanings.
If you know of
any more, please let me know.
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