Revision as of 08:12, 6 October 2020

Lord of the universe

The Times of India, Jul 16 2015

Ashok Vohra

The eternal mystery of Lord Jagannatha

The cult of Jagannatha, the `Lord of the universe,' is an enigma. The question of whether it is an aboriginal Shavara cult which worshipped logs of wood as Lord Nilamadhava; a Vaishnavite cult devoted to the worship of Vishnu in His incarnation as Krishna; a Mahayana Buddhism cult; Jaina Tirthankar cult; Shaivite cult, or a Tantric cult -has so far not been settled. Some see God as Purushottama ­ the Supreme Self, the vedic Brahmn, Supreme Consciousness; the tantric tradition conceives Him as Bhairva and still others believe that God is the redeemer of the fallen ­ the Patitapabana of the Mahayana tradition.

Even the mantra `Aum Klim Krishnaye, Gobindaye, Gopikajanavallabhaye Namah' which is chanted to worship Lord Jagannatha does not help us solve the riddle. The term `Aum' is the vedic syllable which refers to Brahmn, Ultimate Reality . `Klim' is used in the tantric tradition. `Krishna', `Gobinda' all refer to the Vaishnavite tradition.

The three figures with their round heads, with stumps for arms and rather shapeless bodies are made of wood.According to General Cunningham these figures represent the tri-ratnas ­Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha respectively. In Buddhist tradition dhamma is always represented as female.Even the pedestal on which the trinity now stands is called Ratnavedi, home of the jewels.

According to the Vaishnavite tradition the three figures are those of Krishna, his sister Subhadra and brother Balabhadra. Subhadra, the daughter of Yashoda, saved the lives of Krishna and Balarama from the mighty hands of Kan s sa. She was then known by the names of Yogamaya or Yoganidra. She is also known as Ekanamasa ­ the one who is One ­ advaita, and not the part of any other ­ akhanda. She is regarded as the creator of kala, time.

The worship of brothers and sister is unique. In Indic tradition through worship of God and His consort, His power is widespread; the worship of God and His sister is rare. Even on the occasion of Ratha-jatra, Mahalakshmi does not accompany the Lord. He is accompanied by His sister, brother and the Sudarshan chakra. This indicates the importance given to filial love rather than passionate love, conveying that human beings must love each other like brothers and sisters.

Another exclusive feature of Lord Jagannatha is that the deity is carved out of wood. In all other temples the deity is carved in stone or metal. It never changes its material form.However, Lord Jagannatha and His companions discard their wooden bodies and take up new bodies made of new wood every twelve years. The ceremony of change of the body-material is called `nabokalevara'. The old material body is burnt in a pit in the backyard of the present temple.

That is why Jagannatha is also called Darudevata ­ the wooden God. The trinity's large, wheel-like eyes dominate their visage. The imagery of the large eyes of Jagannatha indicates that He is keeping a watch on all creation and nothing is hidden from the Lord. The icon does not resemble any person or other being that we have seen or can imagine.

Indradyumma, the king who built the present temple, when offered a boon by Lord Jagannatha, humbly replied “My Lord, grant that my family might become extinct so as not to leave behind even one person to claim, in the distant future, that this temple was built by an ancestor of his!“. This is a supreme example of complete surrender, the absolute negation of one's ego and negation of the individual self to realise the universal Self. So is the Jagannatha cult despite the unsolved mystery of its origin.

Rath Yatra

Goddess Lakshmi wants her spouse to come back

June 27, 2020: The Times of India

FROM LEFT- MURTIS OF BALARAM, SUBHADRA AND JAGANNATH
From: June 27, 2020: The Times of India

When Lakshmi Is Angry

ANITA SABAT writes of an interesting traditional ritual performed at Puri during the annual Ratha Yatra festival

Ratha Yatra is celebrated every year on the second day in the bright fortnight of the Ashadha month.This grand ‘car festival’ that began in the Sri Jagannath Temple, Puri, Odisha, is now celebrated worldwide. The occasion is when Jagannath leaves the Sri Jagannath Temple and travels with his siblings, Balabhadra and Subhadra, to spend nine days at their maternal home at the Gundicha Temple, 2.6 km away. Jagannath does not take his consort, Lakshmi, along with him.

The Sri Jagannath Temple at Puri is known as Srimandira. Sri means Lakshmi, and mandira means temple; the name Srimandira signifies that Lakshmi is the principal goddess of the Sri Jagannath Temple. As the Ratha Yatra separates Lakshmi from Jagannath, she awaits his return to Srimandira. But as she misses Jagannath, she decides to pay him a visit on the fifth day of the Ratha Yatra.This day is called Hera Panchami. Hera means to ‘see’ and panchami means the ‘fifth day’. Hera Panchami ritual is performed on the Ashadha Shukla Shashti tithi — day.

As four nights pass, Lakshmi wants her spouse to come back. Being concerned, she takes the advice of Goddess Bimala, for Jagannath’s early return. Lakshmi decides to visit Jagannath at the Gundicha Temple where he is staying with his brother and sister. In the evening, Lakshmi — the golden idol of Goddess Sridevi — is carried to the Gundicha Temple in a bimana, decorated palanquin, by servitors, with great pomp and show with traditional music and a colourful procession via the Grand Road.

After reaching the Gundicha Temple, the procession halts near the Nandighosha Ratha, the chariot of Jagannath. Lakshmi is welcomed with ceremonial offerings. She enters the Gundicha Temple during sandhya dhupa, an evening prayer ritual. On behalf of Jagannath, she receives an Agyan Mala, a garland of consent.This is Jagannath’s message that he will return soon. For the sandhya dhupa, a strip of cloth called tera is hung in a way that the faces of the deities are veiled from sight. Due to this ritual, the door is closed. Goddess Lakshmi feels hurt and angry.

She leaves the Gundicha temple through the Naka Chana Dwara where Bhitarachha Mahapatra sevak worships her with offerings. Outside the Gundicha Temple, she again comes in front of Jagannath’s chariot that is parked there.

Jealous and angry because Jagannath is enjoying himself with his siblings, and to teach him a lesson for ignoring her, she asks her servitors to break a part of the Nandighosha Ratha. A small part is symbolically broken and this damage caused to the chariot demonstrates Goddess Lakshmi’s ire.

As the goddess feels guilty for causing damage to Nandighosha, she returns to Srimandira without any procession and fanfare. She takes a different and secret route via a lane called the Hera Gouri Sahi.

On the day after the Hera Panchami ritual, all the three chariots are turned to face south, thereby getting prepared for the return journey.After their nine-day outing, Bahuda Yatra marks the return of the deities to the Sri Jagannath Temple.

After the Suna Besha, when Jagannath and his siblings are adorned with gold jewellery, and Adhara Pana, the ritual of offering huge pots of refreshments to the gods and goddesses who stayed on the chariots to guard them, the concluding day of the Ratha Yatra is Niladri Bije, when the deities enter Srimandira.

Lakshmi, still angry and sulking, does not open the Srimandira gate for Jagannath. On Niladri Bije, Jagannath offers rasagola as a sweet present to Lakshmi to earn her favour and to regain entry.

These continuing traditions and centuries-old rituals of Srimandira show that even the Lord of the Universe has to placate his wife, the angry Goddess Lakshmi, on Hera Panchami.