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Jagannath Temple
Idols |
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In the Temple Jagannath, his brother Balabhadra (also called Bara
Thakura) and his sister Subhadra are enthroned on the Ratnavedi or
Singhasan, a throne of chlorire about five feet high. The images are
wood, and there are also miniature metal images of Laksmi and Saraswati,
besides an image called Sudarsan Chakra( the name of the wheel of
Vishnu). The three principal
images are described by Brij Kishore Ghose
in the History of Puri as bulky, hideous, wooden busts.
The elder brother Balabhadra is six feet in height, the younger Jagannath five feet, and their sister Subhadra four feet. They are
fashioned into a curious resemblance of the human head
resting on a sort of pedestal. They are painted white, black, and
yellow respectively; their faces are exceedingly large, and their bodies
are decorated with a dress of different colored cloths. The two brothers
have arms projecting horizontally forward from the eras. The sister is
entirely devoid of even that approximation to the human form.
Being of wood, the images require periodical renewal, and this is a
matter about which there is considerable mystery. The account given in the history of
Puri quoted above is that a nim tree is sought for in the forest, on
which no crow or other carrion bird has ever perched: it is known to the
initiated by certain marks. The idol is prepared by the carpenters, and
then entrusted to certain priests, who are protected from all Pati’s
family is selected to take out from the breast of the old idol a small
box containing quicksilver, said to be the spirit, which he conveys
inside the new. The boy who does this is always removed from the world
before the end of the year. |
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Some
Article says when the stock is shaped by the carpenters; it is made over
to the priests, one of whom is selected to take out of the original
images a box containing the bones of Krishna, which is then transferred
to the new image. One account describes how this Brahman veils his face
lest he should be struck dead in gazing on relics of such sanctity.
Once, it is said, a Raja of Burdwan paid the priests an enormous sum for
permission to see the relics and died soon after. |
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Other say that Brahman who handles the relics is slain
by his brother priests lest he should divulge their
character, or that he is always removed by the god from
the world before the close of the year. These tales, in their present from, are obviously absurd. The rule of Vaishnavism is utterly opposed to the preservation of relics of the dead. The
tale, in fact, points to a tradition from Buddhist times, when relics of
the master were preserved in stupas all over the land. The present
practice is reported by the manager of the Temple to be as follows. When
the new image is ready, a certain article is taken out of the old one
and placed in it by a priest of the Pati family: the latter are the
traditional descendants of the Brahman Vidyapati, who first discovered
the abode of Jagannath. This article is called the Brahma- padarth. The
priest is blindfolded and his hands are swathed in cloth, so that he may
neither see nor touch the sacred article. When he has placed it in the
new image, the opening is closed by a carpenter of a certain family. |
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