KarmaVaani
Vaishnava tradition
जगन्नाथJagannath
Jagannatha · Purushottama · Darubrahma · Kalia
Lord of the Universe at Puri, worshipped with his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra.
- Abode
- Puri (Shri Kshetra)
- Consort
- Lakshmi
- Vahana
- Garuda
- Colour
- Black
- Arms
- 2
Jagannath, Lord of the Universe, is worshipped at Puri in Odisha in a wooden form with great round eyes and no hands or feet, beside his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra. Each year the three ride out in huge wooden chariots during the Rath Yatra, pulled by thousands. The wooden images are renewed in the Nabakalebara rite every twelve to nineteen years.
Mantra
जगन्नाथः स्वामी नयनपथगामी भवतु मे
Jagannatha Swami Nayana Patha Gami Bhava Tu Me
May Lord Jagannath come within the path of my eyes: the refrain of the Jagannathashtakam.
How Jagannath is shown
A carved wooden figure with a black face, huge round eyes, a wide smile and short stumps for arms.
- Great round eyes
- The lord who never closes his eyes on his devotees.
- Unfinished form
- The divine beyond limbs and form, needing no hands to embrace.
- Nilachakra on the temple spire
- His discus, seen by the whole city.
Stories
The unfinished images
The divine carpenter agreed to carve the images for King Indradyumna only if no one opened the door until he was done. The impatient queen opened it after fourteen days. The carver vanished, the images unfinished, and that is the form worshipped ever since.
