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
orship him; some say they’re Krishna’s bones; some say Shaligram, the fossil that symbolizes Vishnu. Whatever it is, Brahmins cannot even touch it—they cover their hands with cloth, and blindfolded, they transfer this into the new idol. It is akin to prana pratishtha (infusing life into an image to make it god). The old body goes away and a new body comes; the soul moves from one body to another.
The new idols are smaller because they are still children. Each year, as new paint is added to them, they become bigger. It’s almost like a living person. All the gods in this temple sing and dance; Jagannath sits on a swing (dol yatra), because he loves to; they go on boat rides; he quarrels with his wife; and even performs the shraddha (last rites) of his parents. All the things that human beings have to do, these gods do.
The Puri temple is associated with eating, and its food is famous. Tell us about it.
Indeed. This is the concept of bhog. In India, there is a parampara of vairagya and grihasta. While the vairagi (ascetic) panths like Buddhism and Jainism withdrew from the world, the grihasta (householder) parampara challenged this. They said the world has been created for bhog (partaking in material life) and consumption. And the gods will show mankind how to do it properly. Bhog is important in all temples as prasad, but here it goes a step further. The world’s largest pressure cooker is at the Puri temple. Large quantities of dal, rice, vegetables are cooked, and the bhog is offered every day. There is an Anand Bazaar (market of joy) where food is sold. The message is that bhog, song, dance, beauty, rasa, swaad (taste) are all part of the universe. This Brahmand has to be savoured, and god also does so. He is a part of this cycle, though he knows it will all end. So he is not too attached. The body comes and goes; the rath comes and goes. And yet, he’s always beaming.
10
Elephants
Why were elephants considered so important in Puranic times?
In nature, an elephant does not have any enemies. Most animals have a predator that can kill them. An elephant has no such natural enemy. So he roams around without fear. He is large so can go anywhere and find food. The elephant is Goddess Lakshmi’s favourite for these reasons. He represents the good life, and has become a symbol of prosperity and happiness. In poems, he has been associated with dharma because he is associated with kings, also artha because he is used in industrial, economic activities (such as for carrying wood and stone, construction of buildings and temples, etc.). Maintaining elephants is expensive so the people who keep them are usually rich. Elephants are also associated with kama or pleasure, desire. A female elephant walking is called gaja gamini, which is also a term for a sexy woman. An elephant is symbolic of happiness, dharma, artha, kama and hence is considered shubh or auspicious.
Tell us about Airavata, the elephant who is Indra’s vehicle.
He is a special elephant because he has emerged from the Kshir Sagar, and is white in colour. He has seven trunks, and six pairs of tusks. A Mercedes among elephants! Because he is in the sky, elephants are also associated with clouds—white elephants with white clouds, and black elephants with black clouds from where Indra flashes lightning and brings rain.
In Puranic stories, elephants were flying creatures and used to have four wings. Once, many elephants perched on a tree, forgetting their weight. The tree collapses on the rishis sitting under it and injures them. In anger, they curse the elephants, saying that their wings will be removed. Indra takes away their wings. It is said that an elephant’s best friends are still the clouds and when he trumpets loudly, clouds come forth in response. Rain, clouds and elephants have a strong relation. A herd of elephants is associated with monsoon clouds.
Is Lakshmi’s vehicle also an elephant?
Yes, what is known as Gaja Lakshmi, but in most images we see a male and female white elephant standing on either side of her—she does not sit on an elephant. White is associated with celestial elephants. It’s said that when Lakshmi arose from the Amrita manthan, eight elephants came with her. These elephants, a symbol of clouds, sprayed water on her, did her abhishek (purification, ritual bathing) and welcomed her. Which is exactly what rains do; only when it rains can Lakshmi rise from the earth, and crops grow. In the absence of rain there’ll be drought and our agricultural economy will collapse and Lakshmi (wealth) will not come.
Lakshmi’s elephants are associated with digga, or directions. There are elephants in all eight directions—four cardinal (north, south, east, west) and four ordinal (north-west, north-east, south-west, south-east). They are called Diggaj—what we now understand as great people. These great elephants stand in the four corners of the world, in pairs (a male and a female), so eight in all. The male is associated with strength, power and the female with sensuality, fertility.
Shiva is called Gajantaka or elephant-slayer. What’s the story behind this?
Although elephants mostly carry a positive meaning, sometimes they take negative forms as well. There’s an asura called Gaja-asura. Shiva fights him, slays him, tears off his skin and wraps it around his body. The image of Shiva dancing on an elephant’s head while holding up its skin is called Gajantaka Murti or Gaja Samhara Murti. Shiva always wears a gaja charma (elephant skin) around his body. An elephant’s skin is crumpled, stinky, full of blood and fat, and so it cannot be tanned and used like leather. So someone wearing it presents a horrific (vibhatsa) image. In artwork, Shiva is shown with deer or tiger skin only because it is nicer to paint; artists prefer yellow over black! Shiva is always with gaja charma or vyagra charma (tiger skin), but mostly gaja charma.
This is significant because his son is Ganesha. It is said that Shiva killed this elephant and put his head on Ganesha. Another story says that he cut off Airavata’s head to put it on Ganesha. In Bengal and Odisha, a Ganesha idol is always white, symbolizing Airavata. Ganesha, again, is associated with wealth, power, prosperity. Ganesha is a positive image, Gaja-asura is negative.
Symbolically, gaja is associated with worldly aspects of dharma, artha, kama, happiness, and not with moksha. When Shiva is associated with vairagya and moksha, he kills the elephant. But when he becomes a householder, he brings the elephant into his home as Ganesha. So he’s accepting worldly aspects.
What’s Vishnu’s connection with the elephant? I’ve heard a story where he kills a makar, crocodile, to save an elephant?
Yes, it’s the story of Gajendra moksha. One of the oldest images of Vishnu comes from the Deogadh Temple where the wall carvings show Vishnu saving an elephant whose leg is in the vicious grip of a snake, not a crocodile. This is Gajendra, the king of elephants, who is stuck in a lake of lotuses because a snake has its leg in its grasp. It suggests that he’s trapped in the world of pleasure (indrajaal) and cannot escape. The fact that Vishnu is saving him suggests one can find release from worldly trappings (samsaric jeevan) by praying to the preserver. So he’s giving the elephant mukti, liberation. It’s a very important story in the Vaishnava parampara.
In another story, Krishna slays an elephant called Kuvalayapida. In Mathura, Kamsa sends this elephant to attack Krishna, who stops the animal and kills it instead. Krishna then kills Kamsa with the tusk of this elephant.
What is the importance of elephant in Buddhism and Jainism?
These are monastic, ascetic traditions but these too have a place for elephants. All religions in India do. In fact, the first images, carvings of elephants are found in the seals of the Indus Valley civilization. It is believed that when Buddha was in his mother’s womb, she dreamt of a white elephant, or of an elephant entering her womb. Dreaming of elephants was considered auspicious, because it meant that something big was going to happen, that an eminent king or a rishi was going to be born. This same concept is seen in Jainism. An elephant dream indicates that a great soul—a tirthankara, a chakravarti, or a vasudeva—will be born. Usually white elephants, or a pair of elephants.
Buddhist thought has another story. Once, when Buddha was walking, his enemies sent a mad elephant towards him to kill him. But the elephant quietened down when he ca
me across Buddha’s calm energy. He sat with him and bowed to him instead.
The symbol of the second Jain Tirthankara, Ajitnath, was an elephant, while that of the first, Rishabhnath, was a bull. The Jains too have a Ganesha. They say that Parshvanath, the twenty-third Tirthankara, used to have yaksha and yakshini as guardians. The yaksha is the exact image of Ganesha but rides a turtle instead of a mouse.
In earlier times, while building a Buddhist stupa or Jain and Hindu temples, there were always carvings of elephants. You can see these in the Mukeshwara Temple, Khajuraho Vishwanath Temple, Konark Sun Temple, Cheenakesava Temple, Khajuraho Lakshmana Temple, etc. Some of these depictions are not very pleasant; in fact they are quite violent, either crushing someone or at war. Others are shown singing and dancing. But they are always there as symbols of prosperity, wealth, power.
Are elephants worshipped outside India too?
Interestingly, the elephant has been given importance in the Koran as well. The year Muhammad was born, the king of Yemen wanted to attack Mecca, break the Kaaba. He was seated atop his white elephant but the elephant refused to enter the city. That was called the Year of the Elephant. In Arab countries too, the elephant is considered auspicious.
Doesn’t the Mahabharata have many elephant stories too?
Indeed. The first time the animal appears is in the form of Ganesha who is writing the Mahabharata as Vyasa narrates it to him. So Gajamukha appears at the beginning of the Mahabharata. The most important story is of course that of Ashwatthama, Dronacharya’s son. During the great war, the Pandavas plot to get Dronacharya to cast down his weapons. Bhima kills an elephant called Ashwatthama. Yudhishtira tells Drona that Ashwatthama has been slain and that he’s not sure whether it’s the elephant or his son. Dronacharya becomes upset thinking it must be his son, and drops his weapons.
Devlok With Devdutt Pattanaik Page 6