Why Lord Jagannath endears you to love Him
Kind of cute - that was my first impression of this rolly-polly, friendly lord with quarter plate eyes. Surprisingly, many share my feeling. I went on to see the pandas hugging his round form and whispering apologies into his ears: "Kalia main bahut bura kaam kiya. Maaf kar de". I was bowled over by the honesty of this "Sakha bhaav". How liberating as against the fear of God (Bhagwan sab dekh raha hai) kind of a whiplash.
In fact, the treatment meted out to this lord by the commoners, especially on the day of the Rath Yatra, is almost intimidating. You will see people tug and pull at his swaying tahiya (the flower crown) and take the pieces home as memorabilia. They presume He won't mind!
But as you get to understand Him better, He starts to get a personality - He is a music lover and wakes up to the recitation of Jaidev's Geet Govind; He does all daily ablutions, and is put to sleep after being offered mukh shuddhi. Needless to say, in eating, he vouchsafes the aspirations of the pandas of Puri who love to binge. For this rounded lord, it is never less than chhappan bhog, cooked in the world's largest conventional kitchens - Rosha Graha.
And through the year, He is like a divine toy in the hands of his devouts. They give this formless god, the form of their choice. I have even seen him dressed up as a woman.
To me, this intriguing tribal lord, whose form is representative of the nine planets and thus the universe, is also the equaliser of all times as he has in his service, both Daitapatis and Brahmins and we haven't heard of a caste battle yet!
It was my first visit to Puri that revealed the economics of Lord Jagannath. Everything in the town is anchored to the temple, most vocations are. There are families that have been weaving ropes for the chariots from time immemorial. Similarly, there are families whose calling is to do the floral decorations, the jute baskets, the mauli to be tied on wrists of visitors, the chariot makers, even the tahiya is outsourced to a specific family. It is a self-sustaining cluster model of industry, with the discipline and SOPs of a MNC. The apalak eyes of Jagannath greet you at all economic establishments you see around you.
But, the final realisation that I still seem to be assimilating about this lord is the consciousness called Jagannath. This year, we witnessed the ritual of Nav Kalevar - what could ostensibly be called the rebirth of the lord. Every time a year has two Aashads, the wooden form is replaced and the older one burried but only after the transfer of the Brahm or the praan tatv (which is immortal).
This lord lives like a mortal and once in a while, gives up his body to take a new one, the soul surviving the body.
That closes the loop of one's understanding the ethos and philosophy of this friendly neighbourhood god who leads by example - from the "sakha bhaav" to real Jagannath consciousness.
Ask people of Puri and they will tell you that He is the lord of checks and balances. From one Nav Kalevar to the next, the Lord blesses those who love him with unaccounted bounty. But before going away at the next Nav Kalevar, He makes it a point to check how you used His blessing. If punishment is in order, He will clear all accounts before He goes.
Finally, the Jagannath consciousness can get only as big as one's self-consciousness. The more we understand our purpose in life, the more we can decipher His cult.