Jagannātha means “The Lord of the Worlds”. The Jagannātha temple in Puri, Odisha is one of the four cār dhāma defined by Jagatguru Ādi Śaṅkarācārya. He wrote in the ‘Jagannāthāṣṭakam’ -
I meditate on Sri Jagannāthaa, the Supreme Brahman condensed to create whose Divine form, whose eyes are like the petals of a fully-bloomed Lotus; who resides in the Nīlācala Parvata in this World, but whose feet are placed on the head of Ananta- Śeṣa Nāga who is in the World of transcendence.
Jagannātha Aṣṭakam 6:1/2
As the name suggests, so is His yātrā, both magnificent and excellent in its execution and reach. The Jagannātha Rath Yatrā, which carries Śrī Jagannātha along with his brother Bālabhadra jī and sister Subhadrā jī in massively grand chariots, is celebrated primarily in Odisha. According to the Hindu calendar, the festival marks its beginning on the dvitīya tithi of śuklapakṣa of the āṣāḍha (June-July) month.
Origins from the Skanda Purāṇa
The origins of Lord Jagannātha are deeply associated with the tribal deity - ‘Nīlamādhava’ (a form of Bhagvān Viṣṇu), of the Śabara/Savara/Saora/Sora tribe, who are found primarily in Odisha. Even today, priests belonging to this tribe perform various important rituals and rites in the Jagannātha Temple at Puri.
In the Skanda Purāṇa’s Māhātmya of the Puruṣottama kṣetra (which itself is conch-shaped), we find a detailed mention of the legendary King of Avanti named Indradyumna who is said to have moved to Odisha and built the temple of Jagannāthaa at Puri in the Kṛtayuga. He belonged to the Solar race and was the fifth in the line of descendants of Lord Brahma. He was a devotee of Bhagvān Viṣṇu and was loved by all his people.
One day, while performing worship to Devī Lakṣmī, he enquired of the Rājapurohita, as to where one could see ‘The Lord of the Worlds’ (Jagannātha) with mortal eyes.
The King was then informed by an unknown Brāhmaṇa in the gathering - who promptly vanished thereafter - of the glorious Śrī Puroṣottama kṣetra in the Oḍra Deśa or Odisha; and the divine Nīla mountain within it, which is adorned by Kalpa trees, holding primordial waters in a holy pool that bestows liberation. And on the eastern bank of that pool is the mūrti of Śrīvāsudeva, made of sapphires (Nīlāmaṇi). On the western side of this mūrti is a hermitage named ‘Śabara Dīpaka’, which is encircled by the abodes of the Śabara (hunter) tribe, who maintain that temple.
King Indradyumna then sends the younger brother of his head-priest, named Vidyāpati, to locate this place and find a suitable land for him to reside and carry out the building of a large temple for the deity. Vidyāpati, upon reaching there, meets the head-priest, Viśvāvasu (from the Śabara tribe) of the Nīlamādhava temple and informs him of the King’s desire. Viśvāvasu states that he is aware of this future event from traditional knowledge that King Indradyumna would come and perform a hundred Aśvamedha yajñas here, and subsequently install the four forms of Bhagvān Viṣṇu in wood therein. However, what wasn’t divulged by Viśvavasu to Vidyāpati was that the Lord had made a promise to Yama - that he would vanish from the current temple at the end of a ‘kalpa’ by burying himself under the sands, and re-emerge in the next, through the actions of King Indradyumna.
Vidyāpati was then given the divine darśana of Nīlamādhava, holding the Sudarśana cakra, conch, iron mace, and lotus; and adorned by Lakṣmī on the left, Śeṣa behind them, and Garuḍa bowing down in reverence; to whom the devas come down to worship every day.
The Śabara head-priest then asked Vidyāpati to return and inform the King, so that the foretold legend, which was the Lord’s wish, could be fulfilled.
Vidyāpati departed the next day with the deity’s garland and after circumambulating the Puroṣottama kṣetra. Behind him, the Nīlamādhava deity, as well as the holy pool, vanished under the golden sands, into Pātāla. Upon reaching Avanti, Vidyāpati adorned the King with the deity’s garland as the Lord’s blessing, and detailed his entire experience.
The King, after hearing about his journey, was then suddenly greeted by the appearance of Nārada muni, who tells him that, as proclaimed in the scriptures, all those sinking in the ocean of worldly existence without a means to cross it, need Śrī Viṣṇu as their boat. Therefore, King Indradyumna, along with Nārada muni, decides to move his entire kingdom, along with its people, with the sacred fire of his lineage, the sacred kalaśa, and other auspicious items in a grand procession to Odhra to begin with the construction of the temple for Nīlamādhava. Nārada muni, who knew everything, but chose not to reveal to the Rājā had about the disappearance of the Nīlamādhava mūrti.
Upon reaching Oḍra deśa, he took the blessings of Devī Candrikā and was later greeted and welcomed by the Oḍra King, who informed Indradyumna about the disappearance of Śrī Nīlamādhava. The agitated King was then calmed down by Nārada muni who reminded him that nothing happens without the will of the Lord, and that the Lord would answer his prayers. On the way, he paid obeisance to Koṭiliṅgeśa (Śiva) in Ekāmravana (Bhubaneshwar), who appeared and asked him to carry out 1000 Aśvamedha yajñas and then ask the celestial architect Viśvakarma to carve out four wooden idols of the Lord from the divine tree that will be found on the banks of Mahānadī, near the sea shore.
When King Indradyumna reached the spot of the Nīlamādhava temple, he found it missing, as was known; but instead, what still stood there, in the near vicinity, was a deity of Lord Narasiṃha. On divine instructions of Nārada muni, King Indradyumna then built a large temple for it at that spot and installed on the twelfth day in the bright half of the lunar month of Jyeṣṭha (while it was) in conjunction with the Svātī nakṣatra, a west facing new mūrti of Śrī Narasiṃha (created by Viśvakarma) therein.
The King then performed the mandated 1000 Aśvamedha yajñas, and gave dāna to one and all. At the end of it, he had a divine vision of Śrī Viṣṇu along with Śeṣa and Lakṣmī in a dream.
On the last day, when the Brāhmaṇas were taking a valedictory bath on the seashore of Bileshvara (east of Gundicā house), they saw the great tree - Dāru(wood) Brahma - whose top had sunk deep into the sea waves, and the roots continued to float above on the waves, it was red in colour, with four branches, had the divine symbols of the conch and discus, and was floating towards them. Nārada muni confirmed that it was, indeed, the hair of the cosmic form of Śrī Viṣṇu that had fallen on the Earth.
The tree was immediately brought to Gundicā house and was worshipped. A divine goddess-like voice thundered that the Lord shall incarnate at this great altar. It asked for the tree to be concealed for the next 15 days, and only one old carpenter - who was actually Lord Nārāyaṇa in disguised form - standing between them with all his instruments, was to be allowed entry and the doors were to be promptly shut. Instrumental music was to be played throughout those 15 days, so that no sound of chiselling or carving could be heard by anyone else. It was feared that this might lead to deafness and blindness; and the person listening would go to Naraka, with his lineage going extinct. Once the work was done, the Lord himself would announce it.
In time, the work was completed and the Lord (holding the conch, discus, iron club, and lotus) was seated on the divine throne. Along with him were seated Bālabhadra, in the shape of a serpent, seven-hooded with seven crowns, holding an iron club, mace, discus and lotus; and Subhadrā, holding a lotus, as the manifestation of Śrī Lakṣmī (Bālabhadra and Subhadrā were born from the same mother - Rohini, whereas Lord Jagannātha was born from Devaki, all three having the same father - Vāsudeva). In this form, Subhadrā is Śakti. Finally, along with them was also placed, Sudarśana.
The ethereal voice once again spoke and instructed that the idols be painted: Śrī Viṣṇu must be dark-colored like a blue cloud, Bālabhadra in white like the conch or Moon, Subhadrā in a tawny colour like saffron, and Sudarśana in red. All were to be covered in garments, ornaments, and perfumes or unguents. No one was ever to see them without these adornments, or else there would be doom. These were to be changed every year.
The voice then further instructed that a mansion was to be built for these idols on the Nīla mountain, about 45 metres to the north-west of the great banyan tree and on the northern side of Narasiṃha. This mansion was to be 450 metres high. The descendants of either Viśvāvasu (the Śabara priest) or Vidyāpati (who had the darśana of the Nīlamādhava mūrti) were to be employed for the job of smearing the unguents or adorning the Lord in future festivals.
King Indradyumna worshipped each of the three divinities with specific prayers:
- Lord Nārāyaṇa with the Puruṣa Sūkta
- Bālabhadra with the mantra ‘Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevāya’
- Subhadrā with the Devī Sūkta
- Śrī Sudarśana with the Sudarśani Sūkta
All the castes and classes too joined in the worship. The King then performed enormous dāna to one and all, even the stonecutters who brought the stones from different regions. It was then that the donated cows dug up the Indradyumna lake there, which was filled with the waters that were poured when charitable gifts were given. This lake is believed to uplift 21 generations of one’s family, if rice balls are offered here to the pitṛs.
The work of the mansion then began, and King Indradyumna was taken to Brahma-loka for Lord Brahmā’s blessings and to invite him for the installation of the deities in the mansion. At the same time, a King named Gāla installed a stone mūrti of Madhava in that partially built mansion and had begun worshipping it. Padmanidhi was sent with King Indradyumna to help him collect articles as per the scriptures, in order to adorn the mansion and make it fit for the Lord’s residence. King Indradyumna, upon his return, saw the stone mūrti installed by Gāla, and removed it with great respect to get it installed in a smaller palace nearby. It is believed that this could be one of the stories of the origin of the Nīlamādhava temple in Nayagarh, Odisha (which is about 110 kms from Puri) which is an area quite densely populated by the Śabara tribe.
King Gāla, upon receipt of this update, went to sort this issue, and instead was taken away with the splendour of the new idol; to whom he bowed down, stating that this was indeed the correct way to install the deity of this mansion - and that the wooden idols were the rightful ones. King Indradyumna was pleased with Gāla’s devotion and suggested that he take care of the mansion after he leaves this Earth.
The mansion on the Nīla mountain was completed, and Padmanidhi began collecting the articles for adornment as instructed by Nārada muni.
In brief, this concludes the story behind the creation and worship of the Jagannātha Puri mūrtis. In the next part of this series, we will see other aspects related to the 9-day yātrā festival.
Read Part 2.
