Jagannath Temple, Puri – Religious Significance
Tribal Influence:
Starting from Lord
Jagannath himself, history has it that he was a tribal deity,
adorned by the Sabar people, as a symbol of Narayan.
Another legend claims him to be Nilamadhava,
an image of Narayana made of blue stone and worshipped by the aboriginals. He
was brought to Nilagiri (blue mountain) or Nilachala and
installed there as Shri Jagannath in company with Balabhadra and Subhadra.
The images made of wood are also claimed to have their distant linkage with the
aboriginal system of worshipping wooden poles. To cap it all the Daitapatis,
who have a fair share of responsibilities to perform rituals of the Temple, are
claimed to be descendants of the aboriginals or hill tribes of Odisha. So, we
may safely claim that the beginning of the cultural history of Shrikshetra is
found in the fusion of Hindu and Tribal Cultures.
Fusion
of Religions:
Jagannath is worshipped as Vishnu or Narayana or Krishna and
Lord Balabhadra as Shesha.
Simultaneously, the deities are regarded as the Bhairava with Vimala (the devi or
the consort of Shiva) installed in the campus of the temple. So ultimately we
find a fusion of Saivism,
Shaktism
and Vaishnavism of
the Hindu religion with Jainism and up to an extent Buddhism in
the culture of Jagannath and the cultural tradition so reverently held together
in Shrikshetra.
Acharyas
visit to Jagannatha Puri:
All of the renowned acharyas including Madhvacharya have
been known to visit this kshetra. Adi
Shankara established his Govardana
matha here. There is also evidence that Guru
Nanak, Kabir, Tulsidas, Ramanujacharya,
and Nimbarkacharya had visited this
place. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu of Gaudiya Vaishnavism stayed here for
24 years, establishing that the love of God can be spread by chanting the Hare
Krishna mantra. Shrimad Vallabhacharya visited Jagannath Puri and performed a
7-day recitation of Shrimad Bhagavat. His sitting place is still famous as "baithakji."
It confirms his visit to Puri.
A famous incident took place when Vallabhacharya
visited. There was a discourse being held between the Brahmins and 4 questions
were asked. Who is the highest of Gods, what is the highest of mantras, what is
the highest scripture and what is the highest service. The discourse went on
for many days with many schools of thought. Finally, Shri Vallabh said to ask
Lord Jagannath to confirm Shri Vallabh's answers. A pen and paper were left in
the inner sanctum. After some time, the doors were opened, and 4 answers were
written. 1) The Son of Devaki (Krishna) is the God of Gods 2) His name is the
highest of mantras 3) His song is the highest scripture (Bhagavat Geeta) 4)
Service to Him is the Highest service.
The king was shocked and declared Shri Vallabh the
winner of the discourse. Some of the pandits who participated became jealous of
Shri Vallabh and wanted to test him. The next day was Ekadashi, a fasting day
where one must fast from grains. The pandits gave Shri Vallabh rice Prasad of
Shri Jagannathji. If Shri Vallabh ate it, he would break his vow of fasting but
if he did not take it, he would disrespect Lord Jagannath. Shri Vallabh
accepted the prasad in his hand and spent the rest of the day and night
explaining slokas of the greatness of Prasad and ate the rice the next morning.
Char
Dham:
The temple is one of the holiest Hindu Char
Dham (four divine sites) sites comprising Rameswaram, Badrinath, Puri and Dwarka. Though
the origins are not clearly known, the Advaita school
of Hinduism propagated by Sankaracharya, who created Hindu monastic
institutions across India, attributes the origin of Char Dham to the seer. The
four monasteries lie across the four corners of India and their attendant
temples are Badrinath Temple at Badrinath in the
North, Jagannath Temple at Puri in the East, Dwarakadheesh Temple at
Dwarka in the West and Ramanathaswamy Temple at Rameswaram
in the South. Though ideologically the temples are divided between the sects of
Hinduism, namely Saivism and Vaishnavism,
the Char Dham pilgrimage is an all Hindu affair.
There are four abodes in Himalayas called Chota Char
Dham (Chota meaning small): Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri -
all of these lie at the foot hills of Himalayas. The
name Chota was added during the mid of 20th century to
differentiate the original Char Dhams. The journey across the four
cardinal points in India is considered sacred by Hindus who aspire to visit
these temples once in their lifetime. Traditionally the trip starts at the
eastern end from Puri, proceeding in clockwise direction in a manner typically
followed for circumambulation in Hindu temples.
Temple
Records:
The records maintained by the Pandas in the Puri temple
contain reliable materials to show that for centuries past, people from the
whole of India have been visiting Puri in course of their pilgrimage.
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