Lord Jagannath : The Secular God

Thus all the main deities of Hinduism are considered to be merged with Him. Thus he is represented as a Supreme God to Saivites, Saktas, Ganapatyas. Sauras and Vaisnavas. In Orissa the five sacred signs at Mahavinayaka. Konark, Puri, Viraja (at Jajpur) and Lingaraj (Bhubaneswar) are centres for Pancha Devatas, the five deities, Ganesh Surya, Vishnu, Durga and Siva respectively. Just Jagannath cult is an assimilation of the various forms of religion and modes of worship, so also it merges within Himself the different systems of philosophy. In particular, in the ritual and day to day worship are traced the impact of the system like Abheda, Veda, Bhedabbeda and Achintyavedaveda. For instance, there is the feeling of Abheda in the acceptance of Mahaprasad by one and all. There is also the concept of Bheda regarding the Naivedya before it is offered to the deities in so far it can not be touched and seen by any one except the chosen Supakaras. Further, there is also the idea of Bhedabheda in respect of the water used in worshipping the Lords. It is brought to the temple by Sudras but carried to the Ratnavedi by Garabadus, who are Brahmins. Lastly the concept of Achintya Bhedabheda as discernible in the rituals of Naba Kalebara which occurs once in every twelve years or every nineteen years. The entire mankind are of three races, the white, the black and Mangolian (yellow) which represent Lord Balabhadra, Goddess Subhadra and Lord Jagannath. In every continent except Antartica there are temples of holy trinity where during the month of July Car Festivals are held. Even a sizeable population of Asian continent frequent Puri during the time of Car Festival. Last year three thousand tourists from Tokyo visited the holy trinity during the time of Suna Besha (Golden Attire Day) on the Ekadashi Day of Jagannath Calendar. It is remarkable fact that there is nothing sectarian about Jagannath.

He satisfies the basic needs of every sect right from the lowest primitive totemism to the highest Vedantic ideal of transcendant being of Patra Brahma. He is the splendid synthesis of the varieties of human aspiration. He is identified with Purushottam, the Supreme Person of Bhagavat Gita and Great Purusa of Rig Veda. Saint of Orissa Etymologically the word religion means that binds one to the origin. God is one and so are all humans. There is no difference among religions and the strength lies in their oneness. Guru Nanak preached that "all are children of one God and humanity comes before religion. There is no division in God's love" Need for Religious Unity Religion unites, we believe that God is the God of all, not a specific community. Jesus taught that love your neighbour as thyself. Inter faith dialogues would strengthen relationship and trust within religious groups. Religion ought not to be reduced to mere allegiance to personalities. The present religious systems are governed by maxims and mandates.

Lord Jagannath, the Lord of the Universe is a god of voidism. His existence is in abysmal depth and never ending infinite sky. You take zero, multiply with it, the result will be zero. You take zero, divide with zero, the result will be zero. You take zero and add with zero, the result will be zero. You take zero and subtract with zero, the result will be zero. The Vedas say 'Neti Neti' means no end. The Lord Jagannath is all pervading and He combines in Himself all the five Hindu deities namely Narayana. Rudra, Ganesa, Surya and Durga. When He is on the Ratna Simhasana of His temple, He is Narayana, during the Nabakalevara ceremony he is considered as Rudra; during the Snana Yatra he is Gajanan (Ganesh), at the time of Car Festival he is taken to be Suryanarayan, while enjoying the divine slumber. (Sayan Yatra) he becomes Durga.