Krishna Jagannath

Daru Brahma to the mystic vivacity of the Lord Brahma is the truth of eternal. It is the cosmic cause and cosmic result of the Universe. It means ever expand- ing and endless. Thus Daru Brahma or Daru Devata is the su- preme power of the Universe. We know Lord Jagannath and other three images seated on the Ratnasinghasan are made of wood. The wood is not any ordi- nary wood. It is neem-wood and neem-wood is also called Daru in the interior parts of Odisha. Likewise the name Jagannath connotes verse. the Lord of the Uni- The world usually covers different sects, races and reli- gions Jagannath. It is needless to men- tion here that if one sees deeply he can colours icons, Jagannath, white of Sri Balabhadra, yellow of Devi Subhadra, and red of Sri Sudarsan, which represent the entire Sri mankind all over the globe. Jagannath is usually revered by all fore His devotees according to their as reflected in Lord. see the four dominating of the four respective that is black of Sri religions and appears be- faiths in the forms of Vishnu, Shiva, Buddha, Jina, Krishna, Rama, Shakti, Surya Ganapati, Jesus Mohammad and so on. He is regarded as the only God of the people throughout the world. His devotees come to see him without distinction of caste and creeds, haves and have-nots; whatever may be the apotheosis; Lord Jagannath holds a unique place not only in the history of Odisha but also in the lives of common people. To the millions of Hindus of Odisha, He is their kith and kin Faraway some re- mote villages in Odisha on the occasion of marriage or in an important function in the family, the house-holder will never forget to first send a coconut, sacred threads smeared with turmeric paste and a small pot-full of dry- rice to Lord Jagannath as token of invitation, so that the Lord may be pleased to attend the cer- emony to bless the occasion. Even today when faiths are giving way to misanthropy; this custom prevails in Odisha. He may be the Lord of the Universe the highest supreme deity, the Purusottam to the countless mil- lions of Hindus, living in India and abroad with Odisha homely, whelming. Lord but His relationship and Odias is almost humanly and over- As per Skanda Purana Jagannath is believed to be the Krishna himself as Sri Krishna is regarded as the full in Brahma himself. With the end of Dwapar Yuga Lord Balaram (Sankarsan) and Lord Krishna left the World for their heavenly abode. Skanda Purana says King Indradyumna of Malva came to know the great God Nilamadhab the other shape of Sri Krishna from Vidyapati, one of his Brah- min Ministers who was sent to Udra Desa (Odisha). When he came and searched for the Lord he could not be able to getthe trace of Him but heard a voice from the Heaven to perform Yajna, at the seashore to get the sacred tree having four branches, out of which he would get Lord Nilamadhab in the shape of Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra, Lord Jagannath and Chakra Sudarsan and to worship them constructing a great temple of paramount beauty at Nilachal. As such we see Lord Krishna as Lord Jagannath, Lord Balaram as Lord Balabhadra, goddess Yogmaya as Devi Subhadra and Chakra as Lord Sudarsan at Srikshetra, Puri on the Ratnasinghasana. But Madala Panji observes Nilamadhab be- came Jagannath subsequently and was worshipped originally alone. Devi Subhadra was sub- sequent addition upon the resur- gence of Shaktism. At some point of time the figure of Lord Balabhadra was added to satisfy Saivas to the existing couple Lord Jagannath and Devi Subhadra. The discus Sudarshan was also a subsequent addition to satisfy the Ganapatyas and Sauras. This only has taken place over the process of Krishnization was well advanced and given the political importance of the cult after Chodagangadeva only un- der a special royal influence. Unique and enigmatic are the images of Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarshan without any parallel in any Hindu shrine. They are not built according to the injunctions in traditional Silpa Sastras. In fact there is no reference in traditional scriptures for the construction of images of gods and goddesses in wood. And thus the four fold images of Daru- Brahma stand apart of all the other icons in the temples situ- ated even in the campus of the great Jagannath temple. They are all of traditional types by and large, human in form and built according to scriptural descrip- tions and injunctions. As per this strange descriptions; Chaturddhamurty or four fold deities is the entre of the Jagannath cult and has dominated the Odishan life, art and culture and in the sense it synthesizes all the major cults of India. It is not out of place to mention here that Nilamadhab in his primitive shape is now being worshipped on the hilltop Brahmadri or Brahmachal on the bank of river Mahanadi at Kantilo in Khandapada P.S. of Nayagada