Puri is one of the seven
holiest temples in India and is the site of the Jagannath temple of Vishnu,
known for the famous Rath Yatra. The temple is one of the chardhams or four
sacred places established at the four corners of the Indian subcontinent.
These ancient temples are
the Badrinath temple in the Himalayas, Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, South India,
Puri or Jagannath on the east coast in Odisha, and Dwarka on the west coast in
Gujarat. The temple is one of the most spectacular in architectural terms, and
stands on the north-eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal. The temple's fame is as
the home of the image of Krishna known as Jagannath. This
is said to contain the bones of Krishna, and to have been made by the god
Vishvakarman, who, because he was interrupted in his work, left it without
hands or feet! Brahma, at the request of the local ruler, finished the image
and gave it eyes and a soul. Puri was also one of the places where Chaitanya,
one of the saints of the Bhakti movement lived for a time, and Chaitanya's
followers regard it with especial reverence because of the connection with
their leader.
Unfortunately, the temple
is not open to non-Hindus, but the outside can be viewed from a balcony of the
nearby Raghunandan Library, which has a good collection of palm-leaf
manuscripts and is a center of research into Orissa's history. Puri can be
reached by road or rail from Bhubaneshwar. The large market place in front of
the temple is full of stalls. and the surrounding bazaars are interesting and
very photogenic. Orissa has a lively tradition of folk art. Particularly
attractive are the patta paintings on palm leaf, cotton, or silk, which
illustrate scenes from Indian mythology. These can be found in Puri and
Bhubaneshwar.
History
The vimana or temple
spire is visible from the sea, and sailors called it the "White
Pagoda," to distinguish it from the "Black Pagoda"- the famous Konark Temple 32 kilometers down the coast.
The priests at the Jagannath Temple are renowned for their physical prowess and
exercised daily in the famous religious gymnasium (jagadhara). The pandits were
accomplished and respected wrestlers.
The massive stone temple
rises to over two hundred feet; at its top are Vishnu's sacred wheel and flag.
It is a worthy marker of one of the four great dhamas of Hindu tradition. The
temple was built in the twelfth century by the kings of Orissa, who later
ritually dedicated their lands to Jagannath. But Puri was already an ancient
religious site; it was a Buddhist shrine in the fifth century BC, and the
Jagannath temple may stand on the site of a temple which contained one of
Buddha's teeth. Puri continued to be a holy place with the re-emergence of
Hinduism in the fifth century AD; even after a thousand years of Buddhism, the
ancient traditions of Jagannath, were remembered and revived.
The town contains ancient
monastic houses, which can trace their existence back to the eighth century AD.
The legend of the revival has striking echoes of the rediscovery of sacred
relics elsewhere. The king of Orissa enquired of the local scholars and priests
where he might find Jagannath, 'lord of the kings of Orissa', and was told that
the images from Puri had been taken to a village in western Orissa. After some
difficulty, he found the images (of Jagannath and his two companions Balbhadra
and Subhadra), but they were so worn with age that he decided to renew them.
However the priests who alone could carry out the task had also fled, and were
only found after a further search: Hindu priesthood was, and still is,
hereditary, and it was therefore essential that the right men were found. The
priests were re-established at Puri and the new images were installed.
The temple was unusual in
its political importance: patronage of the temple by the kings of Orissa was a
consistent feature of its history, and even the Muslims, who were generally
hostile to Hindu shrines because they were a focus for political opposition,
reinstated the pilgrimage in 1735 after a long period of anarchy, largely
because the taxes from pilgrims were so lucrative. When the East India
Company's troops under Lt. Col Campbell conquered Orissa in 1803, strict
instructions were given that the temple should not be harmed, and that the
Brahmans there were to be put under the army's protection to ensure their
safety.
Worship
The million or so
pilgrims who visit Puri each year almost all use the services of the priests,
who act as pilgrim guides, the pandas or puja pandas mentioned earlier. Each
puja panda has his own area of the country to look after; if there is a
shortage of pilgrims, he or his agent may visit the area in question to arrange
for pilgrimages. The puja panda instructs the pilgrim in the rituals of the
temple and arranges for the purchase of flowers, food and lights which are
offered to the god; the pilgrims prostrate themselves before the images.
Normally respect or darshan is paid to the gods during the hours when the
temple is open, but it is possible, on paying a fee, to make a private visit to
the shrine; other symbols of devotion are the placing of a banner or name-plate
in the temple to record a visit or as thanks for a successful prayer.
The
three deities: Krishna, Subhadra and Balarama
The rituals at Puri are
particularly extensive; five main services marking the events of the god's day
are divided into sixteen stages, with appropriate chants and hymns, but for the
ordinary pilgrim it is his or her personal contact with the deity that is
important. There are separate pujas or forms of worship for each of the three
gods, and for the three lesser gods in the sanctuary, so that the temple is
continuously busy, and pilgrims often have to content themselves with a distant
bow towards the sanctuary rather than a full length prostration before the god.
The great festival of Jagannath is in June or July, in the Hindu month Ashadha,
when the god is put on a specially-made carriage drawn by the puja pandas, and
is taken to a nearby lake for a ritual bath; this naturally attracts a very
large number of pilgrims. The Guru Purnimafestival is generally celebrated after the event.
The idea of procession is
also an integral part of temple worship. Deities are shown to the public on
feast days and festivals and are pulled around the town in brightly decorated
chariots.This festival is called the Rath Yatra and the deity is paraded in
enormous chariot, from which comes the English word Juggernaut.
The Arts
The Orissan historian,
Dr. K. Mansingha, recalls seeing a brilliant performance of the dancing art in
the Hall of Celebration of Orissa's holiest temple, the Jagannatha at Puri.
This was in the early years of the present century. Sumptuously clad in heavy gold
jewelry from the temple coffers, a young devadasi danced silently in front of
the image for almost an hour. She was accompanied only by her guru, an old man,
who played the pakhawaj drum. When she had finished, many of her spellbound
audience - men and women of all ages spontaneously rolled over the very ground
on which she had danced, so great was their appreciation of this beautiful
expression of Indian classical music and dance.
Courtesy-www.allaboutbharat.org
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