Ratha Yatra
Jawhar Sircar, July 2015
There was a hue and cry in 1948 when
Harekrishna Mahtab declared that the Jagannath cult originated from
Buddhism. Rajendralal Mitra had said so
earlier and British scholars and historians like Hunter, Cunningham,
Monier-Williams had also advocated this theory.
But historians on the other side had equally strong arguments and issue
was finally settled, stating that the “cult did not originate from Buddhism but
was subjected to profound Buddhist influence later”. Historian Kedar Nath Mahapatra added that the
Jaina Tri Ratna had influenced the
three gods in Puri, while the Triguna chapter of the Gita is said to be
personified through Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra.
This is not the first time that
Jagannath had excited speculation. In
1633, Willion Bruton, the first Englishman to visit Puri, declared that it was
“the mirror of wickedness and idolatry”, thus beginning the European tirade
against the deity. Even in 1900, W.J.
Wilkins condemned Ratha Yatra as a “disgusting and demoralizing exhibition” and
in English, the word ‘juggernaut’ means merciless, unstoppable, destructive
force. Some foolish Europeans mistook
the scramble of huge crowds to touch the chariot’s holy rope to be “mass-scale
suicide” under the wheels. In the 1970s
and 1980s, Heidelberg University dedicated several German scholars to study the
cult and publishes interesting works on this tradition, which explains it
better.
This worship
attracts extreme attention because it one of the most vibrant ones in India,
with countless passionate followers. It represents a rare instance of a tribal
deity being directly and consciously elevated to the highest echelons of the
Hindu pantheon, rather than enter it though the usual long stage-by-stage
absorption. It is generally accepted that this cult arose from the Savara or Saura tribes who worshiped wooden stumps with no human features
(manab-akriti), though some say the Konds are actually the original
worshippers. Even today, one comes across special non-Brahman priests of
Jagannath called Daita and Soaro, who claim to be the descendants
of the Savaras. Several fascinating
origin tales speak of Raja Indradyumna, the blue mountains Nilakandar and Lord
Nilamadhaba.
The
idols of Jagganath and his two companions do not pretend to be ‘ageless antiquities’ like many others
do, because everyone knows that the neem stumps are changed every 10 to 20
years, through the ornate Nabakalebara
ritual. It literally means leaving the
old body and consecration of new one and this is a special year of the ‘double Ashadh months’ for Nabakalebara to be celebrated. The elaborate ritual of searching for the ‘holy tree’ started quite
early and was conducted by a large team consisting of different types of priests
and 30 police officers led by 2 inspectors.
The tree was located and a yagna performed, after which it was felled
and carted to the temple. Traditional
hereditary sculptors work in secret for 21 days and nights and the old idols
are buried in secret again. Hindus
worship gods in both human form and through non-human representations like the
Shiva-linga, but Jagannath stands somewhere half way. Though tribal worshipers did not insist on
it, later Hindu traditions carved two outstretched arms so as to lend some
human touch and the huge eyes, are of course, painted on the logs.
One of the reasons
for the immense popularity of the cult is its democratic nature as it is a rare
exception, as temples do not permit the original deities to be taken out of the
sanctum-sanctorum (garbha-griha). Most temples therefore carry only iconic
representations called the utsavamurti in public processions. The idols of
Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra are, however, mounted on extravagantly
decorated chariots and taken out on the second day in the bright fortnight of
Ashadh. They go some two kilometres away to the Gundicha temple, stopping on
the way at their 'aunt' for Jagannath's favourite Poda Pithaa. Most religious acts and rituals re-enact historic
agreements between different socio-economic groups and these halts and the
return journey a week later appear very interesting to researchers. Jagannath's
open processionstrengthens mass participation, irrespective of caste and class
right from the medieval period, making it rather unusual for inegalitarian
Hinduism. The three Rathas are constructed afresh every year from the wood of
special trees brought all the way from Dasapalla, a former kingdom, where the
logs set afloat on the Mahanadi and collected at Puri, to be crafted by
hereditary carpenters. Every part of the
exercise is planned and executed in such an elaborate mannerthat it defies the
normal ad hoc nature of Indians.
It is believed that
Adi Sankaracharya set up the four centres or Dhams of Hinduism, among which one was in Puri, while the
Vaishnavite saint Acharya Ramanuja set up a Matha
there in the 12th century. The temple chronicles of Puri, the Madala-panji, say that Raja Ananga Bhima
of the Eastern Gangas constructed the existing temple in the first half of the
13th century. But the
Dasgopas inscription mentions that it was Choda-ganga who set it up two
centuries before. The German scholars state that Yayati I started the temple
even one century before this, which heightens the mystery. The early inscriptions refer to the deity as
Purushottam and he must have taken at least a couple of centuries to get fully
absorbed into Hinduism and bring his two companions into the temple.
The Purushotham-Kshetra
Mahatmya has interesting stories of
Vidyapati meeting the chief of the Savaras for a glimpse of the original
deity, Neelamadhava. The exact dates in
history notwithstanding, there is no doubt that the Jagannath cult was
responsible in uniting the Odiya people of all classes to one common worship,
right from the 13th century. Thishardly happened anywhere else in India, as
caste and class still dominate and it explains why Odisha could offer united
resistance to successive invasions by Turkis and Pathans for almost four
centuries after Bengal's Sen rulers had collapsed.
In Bengal there were many like Sri Chaitanya who looked up to Jagannath
as a fountain of inspiration. Priests from Puri visited several homes here for
centuries singing praises of Puri Dham
and successive generations of Bengalis made this pilgrimage a must. Ratha
Yatras were copied in south Bengal and the one at Mahesh is said to be six
centuries old, while those at Guptipara and Jangipara are really crowded and
colourful. The ratha at Mahisadal is welcomed with gunshots and innumerable
places in this state have their own Ratha-talas, where towering wooden
platforms are parked throughout the year. Ratha Yatras and colourful Ratha Melas go together, as piety and commerce
combine with a lot of fun and oily papads
and piyajees to lift the spirits, even as it heavens pour on us.
At the end, we must
remember that it is neither wood nor stone that determine the phenomenal
popularity of any worship, but it is its universal appeal and exceptional
traits that really stand the test of several millennia and thrive.
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