the temple of lord jagannath in puri is one of the holiest places in india. inside the temple are kept the unfinished, coloreful and smiling statues of jagannath (right), his elder brother balabhadra (left) and their younger sister subhadra (middle). apart from their peculiar form, they are special among major hindu gods in that they are made of perishable wood, instead of the usual stone or metal.
lord jagganath is considered as one of the ten avatars (incarnations) of vishnu, and usually identified with krishna (who is also dark-skined, indicating a south indian origin). his brother balabhadra is identified with balarama, krishna's brother.
non-hindus are not allowed inside the temple, and can only get a view from the roof of a public library near the main entrance. this also gives a nice view of the busy market outside the temple, where images of the jagganath family and other religious souvenirs are sold.
the images of jagganath, balabhadra and subhadra can be seen by people of all castes, including casteless and non-hindus, only during the yearly car festival, when they are carried in the streets to spend some days in another temple. on this occation, jagannath's car travels more slowly, so that he can "meet the people".
the stories about lord jagganath's origins, and the fact that the rituals of the car festival are conducted by descendants of tribal people settled in puri, may indicate a possible tribal origin. it is sometimes suggested that the wooden statues are related to the tree worship of the tribes, mentioned in a previous page, villages. see also the goddess tree shrine in a bhubaneshwar temple on a later page.
the wooden bodies of the three gods are replaced every few years (around 12-14), and a special ritual is perfomed to pass the godhead spirit from the old bodies to the new ones. the process is compared to the migration of souls from one body to another in the hindu belief of rebirth after death. the old "lifeless" bodies are burned, just like humans.
cremation grounds for the dead in puri
as his smiling, childish-like appearance suggests, lord jagannath is a benign and friendly god. it is said of him that "he has no legs, but he comes to visit us during the car festival; he has no arms, but he hugs us; he has no eyes, but he looks on our needs; he has no ears, but he hears our prayers".
it is interesting to compare this to the narrow-minded monotheistic contempt of man-made idols in the bible: "their idols [are] silver and gold, the work of men's hands... eyes have they, but they see not. they have ears, but they hear not... they have hands, but they handle not. feet have they, but they walk not" (psalms 115: 4-7).
