Jagannath Consciousness- India and Neighbouring Countries

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One of the most religious shrines of lord Jagannath, located at Puri city in Odisha, lies at the coast of Bay of Bengal in eastern India. It is located at 60 kilometres south of the Odisha state capital of Bhubaneswar. Chinese piligrim Hiuentsang, who visited India during 7th century A.D., mentions the word Che-li-ta-lo which Cunningham has identified the town as Charitra, the ancient name of Puri. Moreover, this identification of Puri is a matter of discussion among the scholars. The Puranas and ancient Indian literature have variously called the city as Sri Ksetra, Sankha Kşetra, Niladri Kşetra, Martya Baikuntha Ksetra, Nilagiri, Nilasaila, Nilakandar, Shreedham, Jagannath Dham, Bhuswarga (Paradise), Purusottam and Nilachandan etc. During ancient time, Puri was a seat of Vaisnavs and lord Jagannath worshipped as the prime god. The word Jagannath appears to be a composition of the words jagat and nath which means the lord of the whole universe.

The worshipping of the lord Jagannath is mentioned in various epics and classical literatures. Valmiki has mentioned Jagannath in the Uttarakanda of the Ramayana wherein Rama is described as exhorting Vibhisana to devote himself to the worship of Jagannath, the family deity of the Ikshvaku Vansa (solar dynasty). Even today there is a ritual of Jagannath called as Vibhisana Bandapana. According to a local tradition, Pandvas had visited this locality and made the temples bearing the name of Yudhisthira, Bhima and Kunti. The copper plate inscription of Chodaganga (1078-1148 A.D.) mentions the name of five brothers of Ganga dynasty namely Kamarnava, Danarnava, Gunarnava, Narasimha and Vajrahasta who visited Mahendra region and worshipped god Gokarna-svamin. It also testifies from the description of the court poet of Codaganga (12th century A.D.) that the princess of Ganga made a pilgrimage to Kalinga. During Islamic rule, the temple has faced a torturous time. According to the chronicle of Jagannath temple, Ramachandra Deb, in his 7th regnal year brought the sacred object (Daru Brahma) from Kujang and installed new images at Khurda. The image of Jagannath was installed in his temple at Puri on the 18th day of Karkataka, corresponding to 17th July 1575 with much pomp and splendour.

In Pari temple, the lord is worshipped in wooden idol along with his sister Subhadra, elder brother Balabhadra and his Cakra Sudarshana. Their images are installed on a raised platform called Ratnavedi or the jewelled throne in the Sanctum sanctorum. The images of Jagannath temple are known as the Chaturdha Moorti or the four-fold manifestations of the Supreme Brahma. Here the lord is depicted in dark colour which can be considered either as absence of any colour or as the commingling of all-in-one colour. But his darkness is of a special kind like God Krishna- a most pretty, pleasing and captivating.

In the Utkal Khanda of Skanda Purana, Lord Balabhadra is worshipped as Kalagni, Rudra and Maharudra (world destroying aspects of Siva). Goddess Subhadra symbolizing supreme energy, is regarded as Durga - Maheswari. The concept of motherhood has been interpreted as Sakti in Jagannath culture. The worship of Vimala as Mahasaraswati, Mahalaksmi and Mohakali, is the witness of Saktism. Moreover, the cosmic power has three energetic aspects. These are Icchasakti (will power), Jnansakti (wise power) and Kriyasakti (working power) that are represented through Balabhadra, Jagannath and Subhadra respectively. In the ancient myths, and literary creations, Jagannath is adorned in various ways. Somewhere He is Narasimha, some where He is Rama too. He is also revered as 'Gopijanaballava. This Gopijanaballava brings to mind the childhood of lord Krisna especially His plays with Gopis.

Puri is the holy land of Lord Jagannath. The word "Jagannath" is a combination of two words: Jagat means world and Nath means lord. Thus, meaning of Jagannath is the lord of universe. The place of lord Jagannath has been reflected in Puranas and other classical Indian literatures. It is mentioned as Bhaumaksetra, Caritrapura, Dasavataraksetra, Dibyaksetra, Jagannathksetra, Jagannath Puri, Neelachala, Neeladri, Nilagiri, Nilakandara, Purusottama Dhama, Purusottamaksetra, Purusottama Puri, Srikssetra and Shankhaksetra. "Puri", a Sanskrit word, means 'town, or 'city' and is cognate with the Greek word polis. It seems possible that Puri is a shortened name for Jagannath Puri or Purusottama Puri. In some records pertaining to the British rule, the word 'Jagannath' was used for Puri. It is the only shrine in India where Lord Jagannath is known by various names of Hindu gods and where goddesses such as Radha, Lakshmi, Durga, Sati, Parvati, and Sakti abodes with Krisna.

Sri Jagannath is believed to be a Dham of Kalyuga and has remained the centre of civilizations since time immemorial. Jagannath consciousness is not a separate philosophy but it is a consciousness towards the Philosophy of lord Krisna whose anteriorization has been made into lord Visnu as well as Narain too. Culturally, the temple of lord Jagannath at Puri holds a unique place in eastern as well as other parts of India. It is because lord Jagannath has been considered parallel to Śiva of the Viswanath temple of Varanasi.

The rituals that are connected with the worship of Jagannath veritably reflect an amalgam of Brahmanic, Sakta, Buddhistic as well as Jaina and other religious practices. Four wheels of Jagannath represent unity, freedom, knowledge, power and virtue. Sri Aurobindo opines that "the Chariot of Jagannath is not a society but a commune; it is not a loose knit human collectively or crowd but a free indestructible union, a divine commune evolved in joy by the power of harmonising knowledge of self and god".

The Lord Jagannath and his philosophy have deep imprint on other cultures of the world. One of the significant manifestations of Jagannath is human culture. Jagannath consciousness is so all pervading that it has the capacity to nurture all levels of human existence-rich or poor, learned or ignorant, sinner or virtuous, male or female, well-bred or ill bred, foreigner of a native. Thus, besides Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, Christians, Sikhs, other minor religious groups by different means have justified their association.

The present volume offers 24 research papers on Lord Jagannath presented by the well. known scholars in this field of "lagannath Chetana (Consciousness) in Art and Culture of India and Its Neighbouring Countries". The papers of this volume offer wide range of study on lord Jagannath which are classified into six themes.

First paper entitled "Jagannath Consciousness: An Overview" by Ranjita Barik offers a distinct feature of lord Jagannath. In this paper, Barik has visualised lord Jagannath as a person who bestow his blessings to everyone. Further, it is mentioned that although Jagannath worshipped in Puri along with his brother "Balabhadra" and sister "Subhadra" and ceaseless creation of this earth is represented as "Sudarsana". However, Lord Jagannath is not a god of a community, religion, or any part of this world; indeed, his extent is limitless or beyond any geographical boundaries.

The subject on Lord Jagannath and consciousness has limitless boundaries to understand. The next paper "The Jagannath Consciousness: A Review" presented by Bikasini Guman Singh points to the message of lord Jagannath as selflessness that conveys unique message for mankind. It is beyond the limit of traditional religious-theological order, a cult of philosophical system. The dark face of lord has a special colour that is integration of all colours which symbolise closeness to the masses. In him, no barrier of caste and creeds prevails as Mahaprasad of lord is shared by every people of the society.