Jagannath
Jagannath is a Sanskrit term that expands the meaning Jagat, which means the universe, and Nath means the lord. The name Jagannath is universally familiar not only among Hindus as their deity but also equally popular among other religions. It represents that Jagannath is the lord of the universe. Perhaps it’s the only Hindu god who represents the universe and is equally popular irrespective of caste, creed, and religion. Jagannath stands as a symbol of integrity and unity of all the religions, not any country. The idol of Jagannath is a carved and decorated wooden stump with large, rounded eyes and a symmetric face, and the idol has a conspicuous absence of hands and legs. Usually, the icon is made of wood and replaced with a new one at intervals.
Adi Sankaracharya's concept
He is above all, Jagat guru Adi 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 Rameshwaram. In the concept of Adi Shankaracharya, Puri is the prime and foremost dham among the four dhams. This dham of lord Jagannath, Puri, has its own specialities which are not found in any other God or Goddess of other religions. The special quality of this dham is that it has no religion with any temple, church, masjid, Girja, or any other religion.
The origin and the evolution of Jagannath worship are unclear; some scholars interpret the possible origin as the Rigveda.
His form of creature with astronomy features
Some say lord Jagannath is the black planet Saturn, some say he is Kali, the force and source of femininity, others say he is Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwar, or Shristi. Sththi and bilaya, some say that Jagannath is Kala, meaning time, and time has no gender; some say he is Mahavishnu or Purushotham, the best in the human form. Shree Jagannath is not only associated with religion, but also reflected in literature, art, politics, culture, science, economics, astrology, vastu, Tangra, mantra, and jantra. In a nutshell, lord Jagannath is the lifeblood of each study and is a subject starting from the cosmic world to the small molecular spirit. The study of lord Jagannath originated with the origin of the universe. In the opinion of the astrologers or the Astor scientist, there are nine planets, Rabi, Chandran, Mangal, Buddha, Bruhasapti, Sukra, Sani, Rahu, Ketu, known as the sun, moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter.
Venus, Saturn, Neptune. Lord Jagannath is directly or indirectly associated with the astro-solar system, such as
- The two big, rounded eyes of lord Jagannath represent the sun and the moon, that is, the Surya and the Chandra.
- Bold red lips represent the Mangal or Mars.
- In the chariot of Jagannath, Baamaana represents Buddha.
- In yellow clothes and golden decorated costumes, representing Bruhaspati
- The quality of the art of love of Jagannath represents Venus.
- The colour black represents Saturn.
- The incomplete body of lord Jagannath represents the uncompleted planets Rahu and Ketu.
Story of Lord Jagannath
Lord Jagannath, Lord Bala Dev and Mama Subhadra are worshipped on the Ratnavadi along with the Sudarshan chakra. The four deities are carved out of dark coloured neem wood, which is considered auspicious for all castes. This also signifies that Jagannath is beyond time, space, a symbol of universal love and brotherhood. The lord Jagannath was formerly worshipped as Shri Neel’s Madhava by a Davar king, the Tribal chief, named Vishwasu.
King Indrayumma was ruling over the Malaga country in Satya yoga, the age of truth. He was a great devotee of lord Vishnu. After the lord, the king Indrayumma directed a Brahmin priest. Vidyapati, to discover the deity, who was secretly in a dense forest, by Vishwasu. Vidyapati tried his utmost to locate the place, but he failed in the beginning. However, in the end, he fell in love with viswasus daughter Lalita to marry him. Following the marriage, due to repetitive requests of Vidyapati, Viswasu took his son-in-law blindfolded to the cave, where lord Neel’s Madhava was worshipped. Vidyapati was intelligent; to identify the path, he dropped mustard seeds on the ground while he was travelling along Vidyapati. The mustard seeds sprouted into plants in a few days, which identified the way the cave was later on. On hearing the good news from him, kind Indrayumma proceeded instantly to Odra Desha, now known as Odisha. On a pilgrimage to visit the lord, but on arrival, he found the deity was missing. The king felt dejected, but was adamant not to return without having a darshan from the lord. He decided to perform fast unto death, at Mount Neela, then a celestial voice cried Thou shalt see him.
Subsequently, the king performed one thousand Ashwamedha yajnas and built a magnificent temple for lord Vishnu. The first murti of lord Narasimha was brought by Narada, who got it installed in the temple. During sleep, the king got an image of lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra, and Chakra Sudharshan. A cosmological voice also directed him to bring the massive dark coloured divine log of wood floating on the seashore and make idols of it. Sage Narada advised bringing the divine woods to a high altar, presently identified as the Mahavedi. Then shri Vishwakarma, the divine architect, emerged in the guise of a wrinkly old carpenter and requested the king to give him an opportunity to carve the wooden idols which were to become deities. The carpenter had made one condition to the king and queen, not to open the door for 21days. However, just after two weeks, the queen became anxious, as she couldn’t hear any noise from inside. She assumed the carpenter to be dead and requested the king to open the door. On the 17th day, the king opened the door, but to their surprise, they found three idols unfinished with incomplete hands, and the carpenter had disappeared. But a divine voice told the king to install those deities in the temple. The king Indrayumma then requested Shri Viswakarma to build a magnificent temple to house the deities, near the kalpabatra. Finally, the deities were installed in the temple by Brahma with divine rituals.
References
- bhagavathamkatha.com
- wemy.in
- indiaculture.gov.in