Devlok With Devdutt Pattanaik Read online

  Although he’s famous the world over as an idol of Krishna, and all sects wish to claim him, in loka parampara (folk tradition), he is bigger than everyone, and so is called Jagannath.

  What is the importance of the famous annual rath yatra of Puri?

  The temple is world famous because of this ritual. The English word ‘juggernaut’ has originated from Jagannath. When the British came to India, they saw this huge rath (chariot with many wheels), unlike any they had seen before.

  This rath yatra happens in summer when the deity is taken out of the temple because he feels hot inside and wishes to bathe. So, there’s a Jagannath snaan yatra where he is bathed in public. Because of this, he gets a fever, so he is kept in the vanasar ghar (recovery room). When he feels better after a few days, he wants to visit his aunt’s house, Gundicha Temple, where he goes to enjoy some food. He goes there sitting on the rath, which is the big festival of the rath yatra (journey on a chariot). Huge chariots are built over several months. The rath is made of wood and other organic material; no metal is used. Cloth and beautiful paintings are used. Carpenters, painters, tailors are involved. Many people participate.

  In a big ceremony, the deity is brought out of the temple, with his image swaying. The classical dance form of Odissi is said to have been inspired by this movement. The deity’s crown too is very grand. He sits on the rath and goes to his aunt’s. After a few days he returns to his temple.

  This story is associated with many folk tales. When he returns, his wife Lakshmi is upset that he had not taken her with him on the rath, and closes the door on him, refusing to let him enter. To placate her, a bowl of rasgulla is placed at the door. It is believed that the rasgulla originated here, which is controversial because of course Bengalis say it is their sweet!

  During the rath yatra, a raja sweeps with a golden jhaadu. What does it signify?

  All big Indian temples are closely associated with kings, like Eklingji in Mewar. Most temple rituals are conducted in the presence of the king. Gajapati is the king of Puri. He is considered the earthly incarnation of god. But before Jagannath, even the king is humbled. In our hierarchical caste system, a sweeper is considered a very lowly being. Through this ritual the king himself becomes a sweeper to show his humility. It also shows that god does not consider anyone superior or inferior.

  A story goes that many years ago King Purushottam Dev was to marry Princess Padmavati of Kanchi. When her family came to meet him, they saw him sweeping. They felt they could not associate with him and decided to call off the wedding. A war ensued. The king won the war and brought Padmavati as his wife to Puri. He explained to her how we are all equal in god’s eyes. So, there’s a romantic story attached to this as well.

  The broom is golden because a king uses it, and it’s for god’s chariot. It also shows that though mankind values gold so highly, for god, it’s nothing more than a broom.

  After the yatra, what happens to the three big chariots that are built?

  They are completely destroyed. Nowadays the wheels are bought and sold, but, traditionally, the raths were completely dismantled. This is because everything is perishable (nashwar)—nothing is permanent. In Maharashtra, after Ganpati puja, the idol is immersed in the sea. In Vedic times, after a yagna, the sthal, area where it was performed, was burnt—nothing should last. The following year, the rath is built again, like Ganpati who returns. The idea of continuity and the cyclical nature of things as well as the philosophy of impermanence are represented.

  When was this temple built?

  In the eleventh century, 1000 years ago, by Chola Ganga Dev. The main temple was built 1000 years ago, but some of the walls around it and some of the artwork were done later. The idol may even be 2000 years old; people of course believe it has always been there. Historians say that the idol was being worshipped as far back as 1500 years ago.

  It’s a gigantic temple. The iron wheel on its crest is visible from very far away. It was called a white pagoda earlier because it was covered with limestone. When the limestone was scraped off, many carvings were discovered underneath. Some say that the limestone was added to protect it from the sea winds. The temple was very rich, with money, gold and gems, and was attacked often.

  Tell us more about these attacks.

  In earlier times, people kept gold in temples, not in palaces, because wealth was associated with gods. So invading kings would first attack temples to plunder their wealth. One of the most famous assaults on the temple was by someone called Kalapahad, or ‘Black Mountain’, an Afghan warrior. According to some folk tales, he was originally a Hindu who converted to Islam, after which he was not allowed inside the temple. Furious, he attacked it. You’ll see many walls built around it to protect the temple. These are called Meghnad walls, named after Ravana’s son. The area has eight goddess temples (called thakurani). These are the local goddesses who protected the temple like bodyguards. According to another legend a warrior called Raktabahu attacked the temple, and the idols had to be hidden from him. One story says that the idols were dragged outside and burnt but someone saved the dravya (essence) of the idols which they incorporated into the new idols and installed them in the temple again.

  The image of Jagannath is very unusual. It seems almost incomplete.

  Usually idols are made of stone or metal, but this is a rare temple where they’re made of wood. Originally, it is believed, he was a god of the Savara tribe, and maybe that’s why the image is different.

  There is a story that King Indradyumna wanted to steal the Neel Madhav idol from the tribe. He was a supreme devotee of Vishnu, and Neel Madhav is one of Vishnu’s forms. The tribal king Maharaja Vesuvasu’s daughter Lalita was married to a man named Vidyapati, an official in King Indradyumna’s court. Vidyapati induced Lalita to reveal the location of the idol and told the king. Indradyumna arrived there with his men to take the idol for his own temple, but was confronted by the tribal king. During the skirmish, the idol disappeared.

  This story reveals the tension between tribal society and a king from the Hindu set-up, who is building a temple and wants the idol to be placed there. This tension keeps returning in the Sthal Puranas. In the Jagannath Temple too, there are different kinds of Brahmins and pandas (priests). Every year when the god gets fever, Brahmins don’t enter. The people who enter are called Daityapati, the pandas who are associated with the Savara tribe.

  Is this idol changed every fourteen years?

  Yes. Since King Indradyumna did not get the original Neel Madhav statue, he was unhappy. He apologizes to god, and he and his wife Gundicha perform tapasya. God relents and promises to come to them in another form—as a log of wood (daru). They’ll find it one day on the seashore, he says. They’ll recognize it because it’ll be marked with the symbols of shankh, chakra, gada, padma (conch shell, wheel, mace and lotus). They can then carve an idol from it.

  When the king eventually comes upon such a log, the wood turns out to be so hard that artisans find it impossible to carve; no tool seems to work. Finally, a maharana, an old veteran craftsman, arrives and agrees to do it on the condition that he’ll work behind closed doors and no one will enter till he opens the door himself. Many days pass. Sounds that work is in progress can be heard outside. After some days, the sounds stop but the door does not open. The king feels the old man might have died. The queen tells him not to open the door, but he does. The still unfinished idol was being painted, and upon being disturbed the maharana abandoned his work. This is why the idols are still incomplete.

  Another belief is that these are basically tribal gods, like totems. Some believe that the incomplete idols signify that even gods are not perfect; they are like humans. Now that they are on earth, they too are born and will die, like all living beings. Every fourteen years, the god gets such a high fever that he dies. That body goes away and a new body takes its place. A new idol is formed. There’s something hidden in the old idol, which is a mystery—some say they’re Buddha’s relics, because of which Buddhists w