Purushottama Jaganatha and his Temple

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In this volume an attempt has been made to provide a connected account of the origin and development of the Kshetra of Purushottama Jagannatha and it is the outcome of my sustained researches on the cult of Jagannatha from 1980s to 2024. Some of the views were earlier published in Odia and English journals and they are now being used with sufficient revisions and elaborations. It is based on a reinterpretation of traditional narratives in literary and Puranic texts and epigraphic records. It describes the origin and development of Purushottama Kshetra on the seashore of Puri. It also presents an essay on the construction of a gigantic temple for Purushottama Jagannatha and the installation of the deities (in the form of Chaturddha Daru Murtti-Jagannatha, Balabahdra, Subhadra and Sudarshana) on the basis of an interpretation of epigraphic and literary narratives. Last but not the least it contains several other aspects like the repair and conservation of the temple, pilgrims, the nature of Madalapanji, the famous chronicle of Jagannath temple and the management of Jagannath temple in the colonial phase.

Kailash Chandra Dash (1954) is former Reader in History, Government Colleges under the Government of Odisha Education Service, He passed MA in History in First Class from Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha and got doctorate from Utkal University in 1987 for his studies on the Ganga King Chodaganga and His Times. He had published papers on Odisha History and Culture in Journal of Asiatic society (Kolkata), Studies in History (JNU), Indian Historical Review (ICHR), Journal of Social Change (New Delhi), East and West (Rome) and in many other national and international journals. His published books in English-Legend, History and Culture of India, Calcutta, 1997, Sacred Centre Bhubaneswar Revisited (2024, Pathak Publisher and Distributors, New Delhi), Chodaganga, the Illustrious Ganga King of Odisha and His Times (2024, Agam Kala Prakashan, Delhi), Odias in Resurgence (2023, Abhijeet, New Delhi) and Exploration in Odisha History and Culture (Research India Press, New Delhi, 2024). His books in Odia include Anchalika Janasruti O Itihasa (Regional Tradition and History), 2000, Bhubaneswar, Odisha Bahare Odia Jagruti (Odia Resurgence outside Odisha), 2003, Bhubaneswar, Sanskaraka Bairagi Mishra, 2006, Bhubaneswar, Abismaraniya Biswanath Kar, 2023, Cuttack, Odishare Swadhinata Sangramara Keteka Prasanga, 2023, Cuttack and Odisha Itihasara Abismaraniya Patra O Prasanga, 2024, Cuttack. He has more than three hundred articles in Odia published in different magazines like Jhankara. He has several Honours and prizes like, Samadrusti Sammana, Gobinda Mishra Smruti Sammmana Ekamra Sammana, Prajatantra Prachar Samity Jhankar Prize, Bagmi Viswanath Kar Sammana, Fakirmohan Prabandha Sammana and Krupasindhu Narendra Deb Sammana.

There are studies on the origin and progress of Jagannatha Puri starting from the Kshetra Mahatmyas (Purushottama Kshetra Mahatmyas of Skanda and Brahma Purana) to Sarala Mahabharata, Kapila Samhita and Niladri Mahodaya and Madalapanji till 17th century A.D. These studies give considerable emphasis on the traditional narrative of Indradyumna in their presentation of the cult of Jagannatha. With the discovery of several copper plate grants belonging to Ganga Gajapati dynasties and temple inscriptions in the 19th and 20th century A.D. the study had many revisions and historians became more interested to know about the cult and culture of Jagannatha. Starting from Andrew Stirling (1825), Bhavani Bandyopadhya, William Wilson Hunter, Manmohan Chakravartty, Man Mohan Ganguli, R.D. Banerji, Jagannatha cult became a prominent part of the Odisha studies in the 19th and 20th century A.D. After 1950 studies on Jagannatha began to expand with anthropological analysis. Scholars like K.C. Panigrahi, K.N.Mahapatra, K.C. Mishra and Beni Madhav Padhy in the 1950s and 1960s had considerable advancement on the study of the cult of Jagannath. But in the 1970s onwards several multidimensional research projects highlighted the studies on Jagannatha.