An Attempt of Annihilation: The Story of Construction of Jagannath Temple

A divine shrine with the most unique sculpture of the Gods makes Jagannath Temple stand out among the rest of the temples. With stories of its origin, assimilation into culture and the yearly voyage of the gods being quite popular, the failed attempt to annihilate it actually led to its prolific construction that we see today. 

In the 1560s the political condition of India was in a state of complete turmoil. On one hand, Akbar was busy in his policy of expansion and building his nation, on the other hand, the Afghan contenders to the throne of Delhi were taking shelter in the distant kingdoms. They were interfering with the politics of the kingdoms of the east. 

Mukunda Dev who recently won the throne of Odisha after a vicious battle of power found himself in another mess. The Sultan of Bengal had plans for him. Sultan Sulaiman Karrani did not like the possibility of the Akbar-Mukunda Dev alliance to crush him in the balance of power. Thereupon, he took the sole decision of conquering Odisha before Akbar extended help towards the kingdom. The General of Bengal, Kala Pahad led the army and defeated Mukunda Dev. Odisha was thus occupied by the Sultan of Bengal. Kala Pahad became a legendary figure thereafter. 

According to some historical sources, Kala Pahad was born as a Hindu Brahmin. Named Rajiv Lochan Ray or Kalachand Roy Bhadury, this Bengali Brahmin was smitten by the beauty of the Bengal princess Dulari and so converted himself to Islam. However, some other sources mentioned that after conversion to Islam, he started repenting his actions. He wanted to convert back to Hinduism but was always denied. This brought him to Jagannath Temple which was earlier known as Nilachal (the blue mountain). Just like the other priests, the head priest of Jagannath temple refused to accept him as a Hindu and this infuriated him. He took the name of Kala Pahad i.e. Black Hill or destroyer and vowed to exterminate Hindus- religion, people, sculpture and even temples. 

The Mandala Panji, a chronicle of the temple, mentions that Kala Pahad searched for the three images of the sanctum Jagannath- a form of lord Vishnu, Balabhadra- his brother and Subhadra-his sister. He gifted those who helped him with jagirs in Puri. He damaged and plundered the temple. 

Kala Pahad took the images of Jagannath as far as the banks of the Ganges burnt it and left it there. A travelling Amir (noble) kept the half-burnt image with himself and later handed it over to Besera Mohanty, a Vaishnavite, who took the images to Cuttack. Later in 1576, Gajapati Ramachandra Dev aka Indradyumna rebuilt the temple of Jagannath at Puri. 

Considered to be one of the four holy pilgrimages of the Hindus, the Jagannath temple is around 2.5 kilometres from the Puri junction, which is well connected to the rest of the country. The nearest airport is at Bhubaneshwar which is 60 kilometres away from Puri.  The Jagannath Yatra, where the three deities are taken for a yearly ride to visit their aunt in chariots makes one of the largest pilgrim gatherings in the world every year. 

Temple entry has morning and evening aarti sessions where only Hindus are allowed visitors inside the temple. The prasad or temple meal consists of 56 dishes, cooked in one of the largest temple kitchens in the world and is supervised by goddess Mahalaxmi herself. 

Such a fascinating place of worship with intrinsic art details, planned architecture embedded with culture and tradition, powered by myth and legends and validated by history makes the Jagannath temple unique in its own way.