Jagannath has been acdepted as an
incarnation of Buddha.There is no other deity in the Hindu pantheon except
Jagannath who is treated as Buddha's incarnation. There are evidence of this in
the writings of Ramai Pandit who lived during the regim of King Devapala of
Bengal in the 9th century A.D. Sarala Das,one of the best ancient poets,says in
the Sabha Parva of his Mahabharata that "Jagannath has appeared in the form of
Buddha to redeem the people of the world." So the deity of the Savara tribe
turned into a Buddhist deity in course of time.But He was also owned by the
Hindus.The great Hindu preacher Sankaracharya of the 9th century wrote a stotra
beginning with "Jagannath Swami".Sankaracharya treated Puri as one of the four
important places of the Hindus and established the Gobardhan Matha. After
Sankaracharya came another great preacher Sri Ramanuja.He visited Puri in the
12th century A.D. during the regim of Chodaganga Deva and had influenced the
King with his own religious ideas.He attempted to introduce Vaishnava rituals
in the worship of Jagannath and was partly successful.Vaishnavism was
established in Orissa.The shrine of Laxmi was built during that
period.Earlier,there was no custom of worshipping Laxmi in the temple.The emar
Matha was established around this time.After Ramanuja came Madhvacharya to
Puri. He was followed by many of his followers who came to Puri and Orissa and
preached Vaishnavism.Thus,in the holy land of Jagannath,there was a blend of
the Advaita philosophy of Sankara visistadvaita philosophy of Ramanuja and the
Dvaita philosophy of Madhava. The chief proponent after them was Sri
Chaitanya,who introduced the Radha-Krishna cult.Sri Chaitanya and his followers
had rolled on the Bada Danda,the Grand Road of Puri.They smeared their bodies
with the dust of the Grand Road during the Ratha Yatra. On being influnced by
Chaitanya, King Prataparudra had lost himself in the devotional music of drums
and cymbols,leaving behind his royal responsibilities.Orissa was flooded with
the devout sweetness of Sri Chaitanya's cult.
Then came Nanak,the founder of the
Sikh religion.His visit to Orissa has been commemorated at the Gurudwara of
Kaliaboda.The Sikhs accepted Jagannath as their God.Hunter in this book,History
of Orissa,mentions that the great sikh leader Ranjit Singh had presented the
Kohinoor diamond to Jaganath.Unfortunately,this Kohinoor which should have
enriched the treasures of Jagannath found its place on the crown of the Queen
of England.
This is not the end of the story of
religious integration.Kabir,Salabega and Haridas among the muslims have sung
the glory of Jagannath.The Bhajans of Salabega are now among the most popular
prayers addressed to Jagannath.Though they were their God.One of the Gajapati
Kings of Orissa,Ramachandra Dev,had converted himself into a muslim.But to
enable him to worship Jagannath,the deity of Patitapabana was installed at the
entrance of the Lion's Gate of the Jagannath Temple.
Thus Jagannath has been worshipped
through ages by the Savara tribes,the Buddhists,the Saivites,the Saktas,the
Sikhs and the Muslims.All religions have converged into the concept of
Jagannath.
