Lord jagannath is considered as a Lord symbolizing cosmic zero.,being omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient, the trinity i.e Jagannath, Balabhadra Black, white and yellow being the colour of human races and symbolizes three human qualities of Hindu philosophy Sattwa, Tama and Raja. Jagannath cult knows no caste barrier, no community and no religion. It stands for unity, equality, fraternity and brotherhood. In fact the caravan of unity of human race marches ahead during the car festival of Lord Jagannath. It is an epitome of international integration that lays support to the concept of one world.
People of all religious faiths and beliefs find their ideas and concepts embedded in the Jagannath cult. The prophets and saints who have drawn their heterogeneous sects starting from, Adiguru Sankaracharyas, Sikh Guru Nanak, Baishnabite Sri Chaitanya Deva, devotee of Ganesh Ganapati Bhatta the Muslim turned Hindu devotee Harridas and Kabir, the Muslim devotee and poet .Salbeg, the Christian devotee Captain Beat, etc. found Lord Jagannath so dear and near to them. The stories of Dasia Bouri, Hadi Das, and Bandhu Mohanty lead an atheist to believe in the supra-mental and celestial precepts of Lord Jagannath.
A much celebrated devotee of Jagannath was Salabega who inspite of being a Muslim was very dear to the Lord. He has composed a number of poems popularly known as 'bhajans' and 'jananas' conveying the profoundness of his devotion. From childhood he heard about Lord Jagannath from his mother who happened to be a Hindu. After the demise of his mother, Salabega at one time suffered from a serious disease and there was no hope for him to live on. While he was completely bedridden, he heard someone singing a bhajan from a distance and imagined that only Jagannath who is the 'Lord of theUniverse ' can cure him. So he began praying and eventually recovered from illness. Since then he became a devotee of Lord Jagannath and for that reason he was discarded from his family and thrown away from his house. Then he set out roaming here and there, singing songs in the name of Jagannath all the time. Once he was receding from Vrindavan and got late to witness the Ratha Yatra at Puri. He prayed tothe Lord to wait for him till he reached the 'Bada Danda' so that he would not leave out the chance of watching him. On reaching 'Bada Danda' he was refused permission to seethe Lord as he was a Muslim. So he waited at a place called 'Balagandi' to have a glimpse of the Lord as his chariot passes from that point. 'Nandighosha' the chariot of Lord Jagannath passed, but he was still not able to see the lord and started weeping out of sheer helplessness. All of a sudden the chariot stopped and did not move an inch from there as the Lord himself waited for Salabega. From there he watched his Lord merrily and thereafter everything was acknowledged to the priests. This brought him all the respects of a great devotee which he rightfully deserved. As he was a Muslim, after death he was buried at 'Balagandi' where he had seen Lord Jagannath. Even today a small monument stands there in the commemoration of that episode and every year during the Ratha Yatra the chariot of Lord Jagannath stops there for a while in memory of the affectionate relationship shared by the devotee and his Lord.
Legend says that Guru Nanak arrived at Puri with his disciple 'Mardana' a Muslim follower. When Guru Nanak reached Puri beach in the evening near the present Swargadwar, he sat down in meditation.Mardana was hungry but as he was a Muslim he was not allowed to enter the Jagannath temple for Mahaprasad. So the disciple blamed Nanak for selecting such a place where they had to face starvation.Suddenly at that time somebody appeared and offered food and drink in golden utensils. In the early hours of morning however there was a commotion in the Jagannath temple because the gold utensils of the Lord were missing.The news was conveyed to the Maharaja of Puri. Guru Nanak appeared to the Raja in his dream that night. So when the Raja heard about the theft, he smiled and marched towards sea-beach in a procession to welcome the saint.The Raja found the saint in meditation and the gold utensils were lying close by. Then the king and his party gave a hearty reception to the saint who had come to Puri to pay his homage to Lord Jagannath.Nanak was invited to visit the temple at the time of Arati in the evening.Once when his disciples were thirsty but had no water to drink, he requested them to dig a hole in the sandy surface of sea-beach and to their surprise sweet water came out. A well was constructed around this hole. Near that well a Gurudwara called Bauli Saheb came into existence. This is now called 'Baulimath'. This is a sacred place of pilgrimage for the Sikhs.
Eminent scholars have described about the relation of Jagannath culture with Jainism, Buddhism and other cults. In incient times Jainism spread all over Kalinga. Mahapadma Nanda, the king of Magadha conquered Kalinga and took away "Kalinga Jeena" image to Magadha. Pandit Nilakantha Das argued that this Jeena image is actually that of Sri Jagannath. According to him the word Jagannath is derived from Jeenanath. He also wrote that "Jagannath is primarily a Jaina institution". The relation in between Jainsim and Sri Jagannath Culture is quite interesting. Jain philosophers and devotees have also compared Tri Ratna of Jainism with Sri Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra. A prominent, historian late Kedar Nath Mahapatra also suppported this view. Some scholars advocate the theory of the Jaina origin of Jagannath. There is great similarity between the images of Nilamadhava and Jaina Tri Ratna. Jainism was very much popular in Orissa, and archaelogical remains and Jaina images recovered from various places of Orissa prove its importance.Hatigumpha inscription of Kharavela highlights the worship of "Adijina" in Kalinga.This worship was done at "Pithunda".According to some scholars Pithunda is identifiable with Puri. Nilakantha Das argued that the Mahaprasad of Jagannath is Kaivalya and this is a derivative of the Kaivalya or the concept of salvation of the Jainas.
Mahayan Buddhists propagated that the image of Lord Jagannath was really that of the Buddha. Tri Ratna of Buddhism Buddha, Dharma and Sangha are compared with Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra. Scholars argues that the figures of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra are the three devotional repesentations of the Buddhist symbol of Triratna "Buddha, Dharma and Sangha". Brahma that is placed at the navel of Jagannath is the nothing but the Buddhist tooth relic that was brought from Kusi nagar to Kalinga. Buddhists believe in worship of physical relics after death. The annual bathing ceremony (Snana Jatra) and the car festival (Ratha Jatra) are Buddhist practices. According to chinese buddhist scholar Chelitola was " the present town of Puri." Ratha Jatra of Jagannath resembles the procession of the Buddhist image, as has been written by Fa- Hian. Buddhism does not believe in any class or caste distinction. During Ratha Jatra and other festivities, caste distinction is not found in the Jagannath temple. The term Jagannath was applied to Adi Buddha by Raja Indrabhuti of Sambal in his work " Gyana Siddhi ". Adi Buddha is even now called Jagannath in Nepalese Buddhism. Assimilation of Buddhism into Brah minical Hinduism book place after Buddha was taken in as the 9th Hindu Avatara Incarnation of Lord Visnu) as shown on the panel of ten incarnations (Dasavatara) inside the Jagannath temple at Puri. After the decline of Buddhism Jagannath might have become New Buddha. Jagannath cult did not belong to any particular sect. It is the point of assimilation of all sects and religions. It can be said that the cult of Jagannath is not just a faith, but a way of life that awakens the innerself to attain celestial happiness.
Eminent historian Dr. Harekrushna Mahtab has pointed out that Lord Jagannath was originally the embodiment of Buddha. It is known from history that Buddhism had a strong foothold in Orissa from the pre-Christian era. After the conquest of Kalinga by Ashok in 261 B.C., Buddhism must have got an extra impetus under royal patronage. It is known from the Travel Accounts of the famous Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang that Mahayana form of Buddhism flourished in Orissa in the 7th century A.D. The 'Brahman' which is believed to be inside the wooden body of Lord Jagannath is nothing but the tooth of Buddha. According to Dr. Mahtab the Savaras of Orissa were converted to Buddhism during the reign of Ashoka and worshipped the Triratna symbol. Buddha is considered as an Avatara of Vishnu. Jagannath is also considered to be an Avatara of Vishnu Gradually Buddhism lost itself in Vaishnavism. The absence of caste distinction in the temple of Jagannath especially in partaking the Mahaprasad, the Car Festival and bathing festival (Snanayatra) of the Lord are ascribed to Buddhist influence. Pandit Nilakantha Das thinks that the three images of Jagannath, Subhadra and Balabhadra represent the Jaina Trinity. Kedarnath Mohapatra and Pandit Binayak Mishra have tried to identify Indradyumna, the legendary propounder of the Jagannath Worship at Puri, with Kharavela, the great Jaina emperor of Kalinga. Sudarsan is the Jaina symbol of Dharmachakra and Kaivalya (liberation), a term so exclusively common in Jagannath has been derived from Jaina sources. Some scholars regard Jagannath as Daru Brahma, godhead manifested in a wooden image. Pandit Nilakantha Das is of the opinion that in the Vedic literature of Rigveda (x-81-4) the word 'wood' (Daru) is used to indicate the material of which the universe (Jagat) is made of. Scholar M.M. Ganguly points out that Buddhim is an off- shoot of the Hindu religion and the idea of the Triratna has been taken from the parent stock. It is maintained by some scholars that Jagannath, Subhadra and Balabhadra were originally worshipped by the primitive Savaras. Oriya texts like Darubrahma Gita of Jagannath Das and Deulatola of Nilambar Das suggest the tribal origin of the Cult. The Daitapatis (custodians of the deity) claim that they are the descendents from the Brahmin Vidyapati through the Savara mother Lalita and the deities are left to their sole care during the Snana Yatra and the car festival. They also observe the funeral rites of Jagannath during Nabakalebara. Puri, otherwise known as Purusottam Khetra is not only a sacred place for the Vaishnavas but is also equally sacred for the Saivas, Sauras, Saktas, Ganapatyas and even for the Buddhists and the Jainas. It is interesting to be noted that Jagannath Cult is responsible to combine people of different faiths, castes and creeds under one common bond of unity. For Sakta Tantriks Jagannath is Bhairava and Vimala is Bhairavi. In the month of Asvina, during the Durga Puja, animal sacrifice is made before goddess Vimala which is the only of its kind in the otherwise bloodless rituals performed in the temple. The food offerings made to Jagannath can only be considered Mahaprasad after they are re-offered to goddess Vimala. The propagation of Vaishnavism by Ramanuja in the early part of the 12th century A.D. gave a fresh impetus to Vaishnavism in Orissa. The Ganga monarch Chodaganga Deva seems to have come under the influence of Ramanuja. Chodaganga was a Saiva and but was called as both Parama Maheswara and Parama Vaishnava. He was also a devotee of Vishnu. The Ganga period witnessed the recognition of Jagannath as the patron deity of the royal family. But the Vaishnavism in Orissa reached its climax in the 16th century. Purusottam Deva, the son and successor of the Suryavamsi monarch Kapilendra Deva was greatly devoted to Lord Jagannath for singing whose glory he wrote Abhinava Gitagovindam. According to Madalapanji, Lord Jagannath helped Purusottam Deva to conquer Kanchi and marry Padmavati, the daughter of Saluva Narasimha, the ruler of Kanchi. Gajapati Prataprudra's reign was marked with the visit of Sri Chaitanya to Puri. Prataprudra became an ardent devotee of Sri Chaitanya and the name of Radha-Krishna was a panacea to his maladies. Sri Chaitanya popularized Radha Krishna Cult through kirtan in the nook and corner of Orissa and Jagannath came to be regarded primarily as a Vaishnavite deity. During this period the Panchasakha, namely Balaram Das, Jagannath Das, Ananta Das, Achyutananda Das and Yasobanta Das, through their immortal creations popularized Vaishnavism in Orissa. Inspite of their individual predilection with Sunya Yoga or the Cult of Bhakti, these poets sing the songs of Jagannath in one voice and are mainly responsible for making the Cult of Jagannath the mass religion of Orissa.
Thus, the cult of Jagannath is an epitome of divergent religious creeds and schools of philosophy that prevailed in India at different periods of her long cultural history. In the historic process of adjustment, Jagannath has assimilated strange contradictions in a manner that is most amazing in the history of religious thoughts
People of all religious faiths and beliefs find their ideas and concepts embedded in the Jagannath cult. The prophets and saints who have drawn their heterogeneous sects starting from, Adiguru Sankaracharyas, Sikh Guru Nanak, Baishnabite Sri Chaitanya Deva, devotee of Ganesh Ganapati Bhatta the Muslim turned Hindu devotee Harridas and Kabir, the Muslim devotee and poet .Salbeg, the Christian devotee Captain Beat, etc. found Lord Jagannath so dear and near to them. The stories of Dasia Bouri, Hadi Das, and Bandhu Mohanty lead an atheist to believe in the supra-mental and celestial precepts of Lord Jagannath.
A much celebrated devotee of Jagannath was Salabega who inspite of being a Muslim was very dear to the Lord. He has composed a number of poems popularly known as 'bhajans' and 'jananas' conveying the profoundness of his devotion. From childhood he heard about Lord Jagannath from his mother who happened to be a Hindu. After the demise of his mother, Salabega at one time suffered from a serious disease and there was no hope for him to live on. While he was completely bedridden, he heard someone singing a bhajan from a distance and imagined that only Jagannath who is the 'Lord of theUniverse ' can cure him. So he began praying and eventually recovered from illness. Since then he became a devotee of Lord Jagannath and for that reason he was discarded from his family and thrown away from his house. Then he set out roaming here and there, singing songs in the name of Jagannath all the time. Once he was receding from Vrindavan and got late to witness the Ratha Yatra at Puri. He prayed tothe Lord to wait for him till he reached the 'Bada Danda' so that he would not leave out the chance of watching him. On reaching 'Bada Danda' he was refused permission to seethe Lord as he was a Muslim. So he waited at a place called 'Balagandi' to have a glimpse of the Lord as his chariot passes from that point. 'Nandighosha' the chariot of Lord Jagannath passed, but he was still not able to see the lord and started weeping out of sheer helplessness. All of a sudden the chariot stopped and did not move an inch from there as the Lord himself waited for Salabega. From there he watched his Lord merrily and thereafter everything was acknowledged to the priests. This brought him all the respects of a great devotee which he rightfully deserved. As he was a Muslim, after death he was buried at 'Balagandi' where he had seen Lord Jagannath. Even today a small monument stands there in the commemoration of that episode and every year during the Ratha Yatra the chariot of Lord Jagannath stops there for a while in memory of the affectionate relationship shared by the devotee and his Lord.
Legend says that Guru Nanak arrived at Puri with his disciple 'Mardana' a Muslim follower. When Guru Nanak reached Puri beach in the evening near the present Swargadwar, he sat down in meditation.Mardana was hungry but as he was a Muslim he was not allowed to enter the Jagannath temple for Mahaprasad. So the disciple blamed Nanak for selecting such a place where they had to face starvation.Suddenly at that time somebody appeared and offered food and drink in golden utensils. In the early hours of morning however there was a commotion in the Jagannath temple because the gold utensils of the Lord were missing.The news was conveyed to the Maharaja of Puri. Guru Nanak appeared to the Raja in his dream that night. So when the Raja heard about the theft, he smiled and marched towards sea-beach in a procession to welcome the saint.The Raja found the saint in meditation and the gold utensils were lying close by. Then the king and his party gave a hearty reception to the saint who had come to Puri to pay his homage to Lord Jagannath.Nanak was invited to visit the temple at the time of Arati in the evening.Once when his disciples were thirsty but had no water to drink, he requested them to dig a hole in the sandy surface of sea-beach and to their surprise sweet water came out. A well was constructed around this hole. Near that well a Gurudwara called Bauli Saheb came into existence. This is now called 'Baulimath'. This is a sacred place of pilgrimage for the Sikhs.
Eminent scholars have described about the relation of Jagannath culture with Jainism, Buddhism and other cults. In incient times Jainism spread all over Kalinga. Mahapadma Nanda, the king of Magadha conquered Kalinga and took away "Kalinga Jeena" image to Magadha. Pandit Nilakantha Das argued that this Jeena image is actually that of Sri Jagannath. According to him the word Jagannath is derived from Jeenanath. He also wrote that "Jagannath is primarily a Jaina institution". The relation in between Jainsim and Sri Jagannath Culture is quite interesting. Jain philosophers and devotees have also compared Tri Ratna of Jainism with Sri Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra. A prominent, historian late Kedar Nath Mahapatra also suppported this view. Some scholars advocate the theory of the Jaina origin of Jagannath. There is great similarity between the images of Nilamadhava and Jaina Tri Ratna. Jainism was very much popular in Orissa, and archaelogical remains and Jaina images recovered from various places of Orissa prove its importance.Hatigumpha inscription of Kharavela highlights the worship of "Adijina" in Kalinga.This worship was done at "Pithunda".According to some scholars Pithunda is identifiable with Puri. Nilakantha Das argued that the Mahaprasad of Jagannath is Kaivalya and this is a derivative of the Kaivalya or the concept of salvation of the Jainas.
Mahayan Buddhists propagated that the image of Lord Jagannath was really that of the Buddha. Tri Ratna of Buddhism Buddha, Dharma and Sangha are compared with Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra. Scholars argues that the figures of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra are the three devotional repesentations of the Buddhist symbol of Triratna "Buddha, Dharma and Sangha". Brahma that is placed at the navel of Jagannath is the nothing but the Buddhist tooth relic that was brought from Kusi nagar to Kalinga. Buddhists believe in worship of physical relics after death. The annual bathing ceremony (Snana Jatra) and the car festival (Ratha Jatra) are Buddhist practices. According to chinese buddhist scholar Chelitola was " the present town of Puri." Ratha Jatra of Jagannath resembles the procession of the Buddhist image, as has been written by Fa- Hian. Buddhism does not believe in any class or caste distinction. During Ratha Jatra and other festivities, caste distinction is not found in the Jagannath temple. The term Jagannath was applied to Adi Buddha by Raja Indrabhuti of Sambal in his work " Gyana Siddhi ". Adi Buddha is even now called Jagannath in Nepalese Buddhism. Assimilation of Buddhism into Brah minical Hinduism book place after Buddha was taken in as the 9th Hindu Avatara Incarnation of Lord Visnu) as shown on the panel of ten incarnations (Dasavatara) inside the Jagannath temple at Puri. After the decline of Buddhism Jagannath might have become New Buddha. Jagannath cult did not belong to any particular sect. It is the point of assimilation of all sects and religions. It can be said that the cult of Jagannath is not just a faith, but a way of life that awakens the innerself to attain celestial happiness.
Eminent historian Dr. Harekrushna Mahtab has pointed out that Lord Jagannath was originally the embodiment of Buddha. It is known from history that Buddhism had a strong foothold in Orissa from the pre-Christian era. After the conquest of Kalinga by Ashok in 261 B.C., Buddhism must have got an extra impetus under royal patronage. It is known from the Travel Accounts of the famous Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang that Mahayana form of Buddhism flourished in Orissa in the 7th century A.D. The 'Brahman' which is believed to be inside the wooden body of Lord Jagannath is nothing but the tooth of Buddha. According to Dr. Mahtab the Savaras of Orissa were converted to Buddhism during the reign of Ashoka and worshipped the Triratna symbol. Buddha is considered as an Avatara of Vishnu. Jagannath is also considered to be an Avatara of Vishnu Gradually Buddhism lost itself in Vaishnavism. The absence of caste distinction in the temple of Jagannath especially in partaking the Mahaprasad, the Car Festival and bathing festival (Snanayatra) of the Lord are ascribed to Buddhist influence. Pandit Nilakantha Das thinks that the three images of Jagannath, Subhadra and Balabhadra represent the Jaina Trinity. Kedarnath Mohapatra and Pandit Binayak Mishra have tried to identify Indradyumna, the legendary propounder of the Jagannath Worship at Puri, with Kharavela, the great Jaina emperor of Kalinga. Sudarsan is the Jaina symbol of Dharmachakra and Kaivalya (liberation), a term so exclusively common in Jagannath has been derived from Jaina sources. Some scholars regard Jagannath as Daru Brahma, godhead manifested in a wooden image. Pandit Nilakantha Das is of the opinion that in the Vedic literature of Rigveda (x-81-4) the word 'wood' (Daru) is used to indicate the material of which the universe (Jagat) is made of. Scholar M.M. Ganguly points out that Buddhim is an off- shoot of the Hindu religion and the idea of the Triratna has been taken from the parent stock. It is maintained by some scholars that Jagannath, Subhadra and Balabhadra were originally worshipped by the primitive Savaras. Oriya texts like Darubrahma Gita of Jagannath Das and Deulatola of Nilambar Das suggest the tribal origin of the Cult. The Daitapatis (custodians of the deity) claim that they are the descendents from the Brahmin Vidyapati through the Savara mother Lalita and the deities are left to their sole care during the Snana Yatra and the car festival. They also observe the funeral rites of Jagannath during Nabakalebara. Puri, otherwise known as Purusottam Khetra is not only a sacred place for the Vaishnavas but is also equally sacred for the Saivas, Sauras, Saktas, Ganapatyas and even for the Buddhists and the Jainas. It is interesting to be noted that Jagannath Cult is responsible to combine people of different faiths, castes and creeds under one common bond of unity. For Sakta Tantriks Jagannath is Bhairava and Vimala is Bhairavi. In the month of Asvina, during the Durga Puja, animal sacrifice is made before goddess Vimala which is the only of its kind in the otherwise bloodless rituals performed in the temple. The food offerings made to Jagannath can only be considered Mahaprasad after they are re-offered to goddess Vimala. The propagation of Vaishnavism by Ramanuja in the early part of the 12th century A.D. gave a fresh impetus to Vaishnavism in Orissa. The Ganga monarch Chodaganga Deva seems to have come under the influence of Ramanuja. Chodaganga was a Saiva and but was called as both Parama Maheswara and Parama Vaishnava. He was also a devotee of Vishnu. The Ganga period witnessed the recognition of Jagannath as the patron deity of the royal family. But the Vaishnavism in Orissa reached its climax in the 16th century. Purusottam Deva, the son and successor of the Suryavamsi monarch Kapilendra Deva was greatly devoted to Lord Jagannath for singing whose glory he wrote Abhinava Gitagovindam. According to Madalapanji, Lord Jagannath helped Purusottam Deva to conquer Kanchi and marry Padmavati, the daughter of Saluva Narasimha, the ruler of Kanchi. Gajapati Prataprudra's reign was marked with the visit of Sri Chaitanya to Puri. Prataprudra became an ardent devotee of Sri Chaitanya and the name of Radha-Krishna was a panacea to his maladies. Sri Chaitanya popularized Radha Krishna Cult through kirtan in the nook and corner of Orissa and Jagannath came to be regarded primarily as a Vaishnavite deity. During this period the Panchasakha, namely Balaram Das, Jagannath Das, Ananta Das, Achyutananda Das and Yasobanta Das, through their immortal creations popularized Vaishnavism in Orissa. Inspite of their individual predilection with Sunya Yoga or the Cult of Bhakti, these poets sing the songs of Jagannath in one voice and are mainly responsible for making the Cult of Jagannath the mass religion of Orissa.
Thus, the cult of Jagannath is an epitome of divergent religious creeds and schools of philosophy that prevailed in India at different periods of her long cultural history. In the historic process of adjustment, Jagannath has assimilated strange contradictions in a manner that is most amazing in the history of religious thoughts
