HYMN TO LORD JAGANNATH
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| Lord Jagannath with Balabhadra and Subhadra |
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| Puri Temple |
1) The surging crowds moved with a hasty stride
Pushing and nudging in irregular ways
Eager to go to the forefront, a curious craze
Crushed in between, we moved with the tide
With grinning faces the deities stood
Symbols of perennial bliss in logs of wood.
2) In colorful garbs with broad innocent grin
With broad faces and brilliant bulging eyes
With painted lips--a strange surprise
These wooden forms--all hearts of devotees win;
Hail Lord Jagannath! Holiest Lord!
Thy grace we seek, all-seeing God!
3) Drest in golden attire amidst the shining lights
With dangling nose-rings and crowns the idols gleam
As people push forward to see the gods supreme
Shouting your names aloud with frenzied delight
Though not full-shaped or beautifully wrought
Your devotees feel elated with ecstasy fraught.
4) Thy white round bulging eyes with mercy shone
Wide-open as if with overwhelming grace
To liberate us from ignorant worldly maze
No stretching of palms, no show of protection;
Your lustrous big round eyes enough to save us all
To lift us from these depths of mighty fall.
5) Oh Lord! Once you appeared in sparkling sapphire stone
Granting every wish to your devotees great
As moral values sank to a degraded state
Vanished from there thy shining form anon
As kings yearned and begged thee before Thy door
You came back as a tree-trunk washed ashore.
6) The godly sculptor summoned to shape Thy form
Hidden in a secret cave he worked unseen
The queen impatient went inside the den
No sculptor seen, perplexed she raised an alarm
Half-finished figures of idols she found
HandlessTrio, in rough-hewn shapes upon the ground.
7) Oh Lord! Manifested in this half-finished form
Yourself chose to appear in a log of wood;
Encaged in earthly mold, in egoistic mood
Can we behold your bright effulgent charms?
Our vision too earth-bound to see Thee entire
A glimpse of Thee, enough Your grace to inspire.
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| Holy Offerings to Lord |
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| Chappan Bhogh ( 56 dishes) |
8) As befits Thee, Poojas done in splendid ways
Rich garments and jewels changed from time to time
Six times a day with choicest dishes sublime
Cooked in mud-pots in cells untouched by rays
Large vessels with sweets, rice and cakes full-fraught
Thy holy prasad makes us feel blessed in our hearts.
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| Famous Rath Yatra |
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| Nil Chakra |
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| Decorated Lord Jagannath |
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| Gundachi Mandir |
9) The grand procession of Lord--a marvelous sight
Even for gods to see: our sins of ages past
Dissolve by viewing this congregation vast;
Enshrined in towering chariots bright
Painted in colors of red, yellow, black and blue
The Holy Siblings glisten before our view.
10) Lakhs of devotees flock to draw Thy chariots great
Vying with one another to touch the ropes and greet
As if they touched Thy holiest lotus-feet;
Earth and Heaven resound Thy name in rapturous state;
Oh Merciful Lord! Thou givest free darshan to one and all
God of gods! Hail Jagannath ! Listen to our humble call !
11) Since centuries hallowed this place again and again
So many saints, poets and kings adored Thee Lord !
And felt the inmost charms of the blue-skinned God
And sang soul-stirring songs in sweetest strain
Saint Jayadev and Gaurang immersed in devotion
Inspired all with their intense emotion.
12) Pranams to Lord Jagannath of the eastern seas!
Thy glowing blue discus upon Thy temple peak
Gladdens our hearts, Thy blessings we seek;
Thy darshan enough to feel celestial peace;
Drive out polluting thoughts and selfish greed
Clean surroundings and selfless love we need.
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1) Puri is one of the sacred four pilgrimage centres revered by Hindus.
the others being, Madhura, Dwaraka, and Rameshwaram. They are
collectively called Char Dham (four places). Puri is called as
"Sri Kshetra" or "Purushottama Kshetra". This temple was very
ancient. According to sacred texts, even in Tretha Yuga, Krishna's
idol made of sapphire stone manifested itself under a banyan tree.
It was very powerful and granted boons to anyone. In course of
time it vanished. The Malwa King Indradhyumna erected the temple
for the wooden idols which were left half- finished when his queen
Gundachi tried to interrupt the divine Sculptor's (Vishwakarma)
work in the secret chamber. In1078 the eastern Ganga king Anantha
Varma re-built the temple. The present structure was done in 1174.
2) St.Jayadeva: A poet-saint born in the beginning of 12 th century and
and a contemporary of the king Anantha Varma, born in Kendull.
His famous collection of lyrics"Gita Govindam" glorifies the love of
Radha and Krishna and inspired Madhura Bhakti Movement.
3) Sri Chaitanya : A monk and social reformer born in Nava Dweep,
in Bengal, popularised Krishna Bhakti Movement, called Gowdiya
Vaishnav Siddanta. He spent many years in Puri and felt intense
emotion in presence of Lord Jagannath. Many other monks and
eminent philosophers like Srimad Sankaracharya, Srimad Ramanuja
charya, Sri Vallabhacharya, St. Ramanada, Sri Gurunanak etc visited
this sacred place and found mental peace.
4) The Holy Siblings: Lord Sri Krishna with his sister Subhadra and his
elder brother, Balabhadra are the presiding deities of this holy shrine.
5) The Blue Discus: Also called Nilchakra is a very big discus made of
eight metals with a circumference of about eleven meters seen on the
peak ofthe temple. It is different from the Sudarshan Chakra enshrined
in the temple along with other holy idols.
6) Chariot festival : In the month of Aashada (June or July) the the three
sacred idols of Lord Jagannath, Sri Balabhadra and Subhadra are taken
in a grand procession in gigantic chariots .The chariot of Lord
Jagannatha is draped in red and yellow cloth while that of Sri
Balabhadra is draped in red and blue. The chariot of sister Subhadra is
draped in red and black.The idols are worshipped and kept in Gundachi's
Mandir for nine days and later brought back with great pomp and
devotion. these are changed and new idols are carved once in twelve
years from the logs that are washed ashore.
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| Sea Beach , Puri |
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| Sand Sculpture |
Ref: 1) Pooja --- Worship
2) Prasad --- things offered to God
3) Darshan --- viewing God
4) Blue-skinned God -- Lord Krishna
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5-03-2015 SOMASESHU G
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