Buddhism as a Peace-Maker in Post-Modern SAARC Sub-Theme: SAARC in search of Buddhist values Title of the Paper: Buddhist Values and

the Religious Tradition of Jagannath Temple at Puri Dr. Ramanuj Ganguly Associate Professor, Dept. of Sociology West Bengal State University, Barasat, Kolkata 700126 Former Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Maharani Kasiswari College, Kolkata Address: A-106, Mall Enclave, 13, K. B. Sarani Kolkata-700080, West Bengal Phone: +91-3325593799/+91-9831623471 Email: rg.wbsu@yahoo.in

I This article to a considerable extent is an offshoot of my doctoral work on the famous Jagannath Temple at Puri. Since the mid-1990s I have been concerned with the connections between religion, religious organizations, religious practices, and the emerging religio-spiritual market place in India. The nature and scope of my work, however, has changed steadily over time. I started my thinking with reference to the urban centers of India, and, more specifically, with reference to the famous religious organization in Puri, in the state of Orissa in eastern part of India. While working at Puri I realized that social scientists, while explaining Indian society, have often been trapped by the whirlpool of diversities and inter-mixtures. On further study, what came to light was the fact that in India a straight forward answer to any empirical reality is almost impossible due its layered existence. To grasp the Indian way of life, the scholars of western countries, with a few exceptions, and following them the Indian scholars have drawn simplistic generalizations. In his extensive critique of past scholarship in India, Inden (Oxford: 1990) claims that it has produced distorted images, because of both the epistemological assumptions of Western scholarship and the political biases inherent in the imperial formations of which this scholarship was a part. At the core of Indens analysis is an attack on the notion of essences: attempts to reduce the complexities of human life to a few factors that serve as the key to understanding a social reality. His main objective to the search for such essences is that they eliminate human agency. History
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becomes the playing-out of various kinds of supposedly ageless forces whether it is caste society, the Hindu mind, the Asiatic Mode of Production, Oriental Despotism or whatever rather than the outcome of historical actions of complex human agents. (Milner: 1994, pg. 1213) In similar vein, much earlier, A.K. Coomarswamy (1948) and H. Zimmer (1952) countered the overemphasis on spirituality and otherworldliness that was labeled on Indian society. Drawing attention towards another aspect of scholarship on Indian society, Indradeva and Shrirama (1999, pg.21-22) say that, a closer scrutiny would, however, show that the current village studies based on the anthropological conceptual models and research techniques developed in context of isolated and self contained communities fall far short of the requirements of the study of the Indian peasant societyin so far as the peasant society is essentially a partsociety shaped by continued interaction with an elite tradition, the models built for the tribal societies are hardly applicablein village studies, based on the assumption that it is a little communityleads the social scientist to ignore the socio-cultural relationship which a peasant village traditionally has with other villages and non-industrial urban centers (Deva,1969). Such a village is an integral part of a civilizationPeasant villages cannot be regarded ahistorical like primitive tribessuch basic aspects of the life of a village as the pattern of settlement of various ethnic groups and the power structure can be properly comprehended only with reference to the historical forces that have shaped themthe only justification for studying peasant villages on the models of folk society and little community can be that they can be placed on a continuum but its most serious difficulty seems to be that it leads to a comparison of entities which do not belong to the same orderthe construction of a continuum with two polar types, implies an unwitting faith in unilinear evolution a doctrine hardly acceptable to contemporary social science. Similarly, Tulsi Patel (2007, pg. 44) says, Sociological discourse on South Asia has not grasped the complexities of religion as it faces modernity. Seminal assumptions of colonial modernity and knowledge created a matrix of binaries west and east, modernity and tradition, materiality and religiosity that represented the modernity and were a colonial means of domination. Anthropologists and sociologists accept these binaries, constructing theories of imminent and continuous religious tradition without realizing that what they consider traditional is actually a modern process. Binary language prevents them from penetrating the opaqueness that binaries themselves construct.
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Indian society is estimably 5000 years old, which has a composite culture. The social and ideological framework of Indian society has been shaped, during this long period, by diverse cultural traditions, of the original inhabitants as well as by the immigrants. Feroz Kapadia and Mandira Mukherjee (1999, pg. 3-5) very aptly put that, a peculiar combination of geographical factors interacting with historical forces have marked out India as a distinct socio-political entitycomposite culture in India originated in an environment of reconciliation rather than refutation, cooperation rather than confrontation, coexistence rather than mutual

annihilation(that) would mean that peculiar brand of culture that represents the rejection of mono-cultural domination and reaffirmation of pluralism and syncretisms, as valid, the stable and desirable bases for cultural efflorescence in a mixed society and plural polity like India.

Interaction and accommodation among various diverse groups, though not smooth and complete, gave rise to the beliefs and practices of Hinduism, a way of life that had a federal character, allowing the local, regional and heterodox cultural traditions to thrive within its fold. Therefore, in contemporary India society we witness the existence of reality on diverse plains. In the words of Gerald James Larson (1997, pg. 2-3, 7) there is on one level (hidden or latent), one of the world's oldest collection of cultures with its Kavya (formal poetry), vyakarana (science of grammar), purana (old tales), itihasa (tradition), darsana (philosophical reflection), its Yogins and sadhu-s (holy men) and pilgrims, and its plurality of tongues old and new, still abiding on another level (apparent or manifest), that tongues old and new, still abiding on another level (apparent or manifest), that same culture celebrating its identity by cloaking itself with the symbols of imperial power, pageantry and ritual reenactment borrowed from the eventide of Western civilization's expansion there are two levels of truth in contemporary India, one level representing the changing, empirical dimensions of everyday life (samvrti-satya), another level representing what truly is, or what truly is the case namely, the level of absolute truth (paramartha-satya)whether one argues that the flux-level of India as a modern secular nation-state is ultimately illusory or is, rather, a provisional, empirical formulation that has a certain plausibility within an appropriate context, all would surely agree that it is crucial to take full account of the permanence-level of Indic civilization within which the flux-level operates
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and to attempt to understand the manner in which the permanence-level and flux-level interact historically, ontologically and epistemologically. In backdrop of the above, in the next section we will briefly turn to see the tradition of the Jagannath temple at Puri, which is predominantly known as a Hindu vaishnava dham all over the world. II The principles of any religious practice perhaps do not grow on their own; rather, they evolve over a period of time, depending on the efforts of the (reflective members of the) society that provides patronage to the religion concerned. Such efforts are for sure, collectively interactive; the process of this evolution is therefore built upon a myriad of factors established and examined by many hours of deliberations, observations, opinions, events and consequences, and finally, political and social conditions. In search of more appropriate ideas, changes were continually made, and further demands were forwarded to effect more changes. Sometimes these efforts were even deliberate and calculative (as in cases of all other religions) to make the practice more compatible with the pan-Indian Hindu philosophy. The obvious consequence of such a process has thus led to an incorporation and amalgamation of various components and parameters from diverse sources. Puri, a quaint township on the East Coast of India, has been renowned for being the seat of Lord Jagannath one of the incarnations of Lord Vishnu, the preserver God of the Holy Trinity. For ages, the Temple has attracted devotees and pilgrims, from all over India in great numbers, to seek and acquire merit, purity and expiation. The present temple complex of Lord Jagannath at Puri was constructed after 1135 A.D. by the Ganga King Anantavarman Chodagangadeva (1078-1147) on the ruins of an earlier temple built by the Kesari King, Yayati Kesari. The Temple has survived the ravages of time and the onslaught of different adversities, primarily because of the serious religious esteem with which it has been regarded for over nine centuries. The Temple, having always occupied a significant position in the religious life of the Hindus over a considerable period of time, has therefore also played an eminent role in influencing contemporary religion, moral philosophies, economic and social environment - interpretations, opinions, and practices, not only particularly in the region in vicinity but across the world. Since thirteenth century A.D, this Temple has continuously played a strategic role in the social, economic, and political sphere of the region. The traits of this
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temple, in fact reflect traces of different political reigns, socio-cultural movements and economic transformations. This regional religious site of Shri Jagannath Temple at Puri mirrors the Indian spiritual vision of 'Sanatana Dharam' and 'Sarva Dharma Samanwaya Dharma'. It has absorbed and assimilated all those various tenets that divides the Indians at mundane level, thus envisioning us with the same Indian spirit that brings samanvwaya amongst aboriginal tribalism to Vedic Hinduism, to Buddhism, to Jainism, to Shakta, Shaiva and Vaishnava mode of worship, to advaitabad of Shankara to dvaitabad of Ramanuja to the bhakti of Chaitanya. This spirit of India imbibes religiosity but sobers it with the idea of progress, tolerance and openness. The spirit that this temple imparts is of federation of faith, harmonizing the heterogeneous cultural geography of Indian, merging it in unity of faith, presenting a symbol of universal brotherhood and a message of peace. The inclusive philosophy propagated by this temple organization is not exclusivist in nature, rather is an expression of the articulation of discourses of all.

III

In this section, we will now turn to see the impact of Buddhism on this Hindu temple whose following cuts across many archaic boundaries common in India.

History tells how Buddhism, more as a philosophy, in India has been used from its inception as a survival strategy by the downtrodden, who were debarred by the ideologies of caste, class, religion, region causing disparity in access to material conditions as well as status. At a later stage, the Brahminical resurgence countered the challenge and struggle posed by the egalitarian principles of Buddhism by co-opting and submerging Buddhism itself in its fold as a survival strategy. Thus, the strength of Buddhism and its principles have acted saviour for both the dominant as well as the underprivileged groups in India. Presently we may now aim to examine the result of the aforementioned dialectics centred upon Buddhism evident in the famous Jagannath Temple at Puri.

K.N. Mahapatra (1954, pg. 7) has pointed out traces of Buddhist element in the worship of Jagannath. Various factors have been highlighted to establish this position.
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First, in the work 'Jananasiddhi' by Indrabhuti, the king of Uddiyana of 8th Cen. A.D. who was the founder of the Vajrayana system of Buddhism, Jagannath of Puri supposedly can be identified to Jagannath, a manifestation of Buddha. The Car Festival of Lord Jagannath has been identified with the Tooth Festival of the Buddhists. Third, the disregard of jati, dharma and commensality barrier in case of Mahaprasad of Lord Jagannath also has been credited to the Buddhist practices and ethos. Subhadra has been identified with Sangha, and Balaram with Dharma, in order to maintain consonance with the concept of identifying Lord Jagannath with Buddha. Kailash Chandra Singha (1923, p. 55) has argued that the fact that the eastern gate (the Lions Gate), is the main entrance of the temple, proves the Buddhist origin further. It is relevant that in Hindu temples, the main doors are usually located in the south or the west while the main doors to Buddhist stupas are always in the east". The 'ratnabedi' where the three idols stand is considered a stupa. Finally, the existence of a temple without openings within the Jagannath Temple precinct and the Bauddha Bijaya painting in the Lakshmi temple are also presumed to accentuate the Buddhist connection to this cultural tradition. It is assumed that by 7th to 8th Centuries A.D, Buddhism got overrun by Vaishnavism; the domination was perpetuated and Buddhism got assimilated more and more into Brahminism under the influence of Shankaracharya, by 9th Century AD. Rajendralal Mitra in this regard states, Looking moreover to the history of Buddhism in other parts of India and the way in which the Buddhist doctrine of the identity of the human soul with the divinity was appropriated by some of the Vedantists, the Buddist belief of the sanctity of the bo tree made a part of the Hindu religion; the Buddhist repugnance to animal sacrifices taken up by the Vaishnavas; and the Buddhist practices appropriated for Hindu usage; it is impossible to resist the conclusion that Puri was like Gaya, a place of Buddhist sanctity and gradually converted to Hinduism. (1880, pg. 107)

It is not sufficient only to relate the various factors that have been indicated above regarding the connection between the Jagannath Temple at Puri and Buddhism. It is pertinent to briefly
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examine how the principles of Buddhism has influenced the state, justice, rights-dutiesobligations, and caste-class-gender hierarchy through its influence over the 900 year old Hindu religious organization of Jagannath Temple at Puri. The philosophical system of Buddhism for the first time tested and used an ethical system that was hyperlinked with rationality, thus, human reasoning became accountable to their lived experience, and the social existence was no longer detached the physical world. Though Jagannath temple is part of mainstream Hindu practices, yet it is maybe the only religious space where God is less godly, and more subsumed to human conditions of existence. The ritual practices have two distinct shades at Puri, one brahminical rituals, and the other very local and humane practices. Reasoning for such practices is given by the people as well as servitors as, if the God does not experience what we humans undergo then how will he relive us from our burden. This is a unique mixture of rationality and belief in omniscient god.

Impact of such practice is also evident in statecraft, where the king (Gajapati) was ascribed the position of servitor to the lord Jagannath, thus positioning him equal with all other citizens of the state. All through history, the local king is found to have limited autonomy as he had to function as the representative administrator of the lord Jagannath. Even today, a democratically elected state government can turn topsy-turvy if it is found to be out of tune with the practices of the temple. However, it must be remembered here that the temple or all those who are involved with it remain politically passive in day to day life. Similarly, the process of justice has been time and again made humane by the legendary presence and even intervention by the lord Himself. A student of sociology like me does not read much into the legendary tales except for the fact that such tales are nothing but legitimization process devised by people themselves. The Jagannath temple here does not propose ethics for a monolithic faith; rather, it provides space and flexibility to the followers of multiple faiths to find their own ultimate truth. This latitude preempts any form of contradiction from the marginalized groups to reach a conflict with the type of services provided by the Sevayats of the Temple. It is for this reason that the Temple with its inclusive philosophy, does not perpetuate any false consciousness or social construction of superiority or inferiority among its believers in the name of caste, creed, race or religion, in spite of being within the main fold of Hinduism; to be honest, the Sevayats also preach how to reach the Lord by not strictly adhering (but not flouting) to the religious norms. In case of
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rights-duties-obligation, the limited impact of Buddhist philosophy is found in the family practices (looking after the old and relieving pain of the commoner), sasana villages (established with competent people as centre of knowledge), akkhara organizations (for health and security), mukti-mandapa within the temple premises (for gyan-daan-dhyana), and the detailed division of labour among the servitors of the temple (Cchatis Niyoga, currently sixty-three types of functionaries). The division and hierarchy based on jati, class and gender has been absolved to a great extent in the Temple of lord Jagannath at Puri. It was observed that the appeal of the Jagannath temple at Puri continue to remain undiminished because of its setting, where irrespective of divisions and hierarchies among people, the central deity reaches out to the believer as well as non-believer rather than other way round. The Mahaprasada offering of the Temple does not adhere to the rules of commensality and can be had irrespective of ones origin. The Sevayats do not propagate a harsh negative judgment about all that lies outside the boundaries of belief and belonging, nor are its upholders are constrained by its paternalism. The Sevayats guide the pilgrim-patrons in attaining an outlook enmeshed in faith on the central deity that dehegemonize history. Similarly during the famous Car festival of Lord Jagannath at Puri the visitors coming from heterogeneous cultural geography of India participates on equal an plain and footing. Inter-religious and intra religious contradictions apparently loose their differences here. In a diversified society like ours where we see so much strain and stress based on sex, religion, jati, language, class, etc., during this festival these distinctions become unreal, merging them in the unity of faith. Car festival of Jagannath at Puri is an age-old practice reinforcing unity among all where the deity comes out of His sanctum sanctorum to give darshan to all. The egalitarianism evident in Jagannath temple has traces of Buddhist philosophy though no where it is pronounced.

IV

To conclude, we may claim that though Buddhism started loose its strength and influence over Indian society by 5th-6th Century A.D, yet it has left sufficient trace elements in the society. Therefore, we see to blunt the edge and stem the liberating influence of Buddhism, mainstream Hindu temples like Jagannath temple at Puri not only stop at adopting its philosophical traits but also have assimilated Buddha as an avatara of Vishnu. In fact it is felt that in this way Buddhism
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has in fact provided the divided religious landscape of India an emergency escape-valve to release the inter-group tensions. In places like Puri, it is important to remember that the access to the God is not a controlled affair. The idol of Patitpavana at the eastern gate of the Temple is placed for all those who are not Hindus by birth. When asked to the Sevayats as to why these so called others are not allowed inside the temple, they relate the historical story of Bhakt Shal Beg (of 13th-14th Century AD) for whom the Lord waited and moved, thus providing a legendary justification that due to the cultural norms one may not be allowed inside the temple, but irrespective of ones religion or faith the omnipresent God of Puri has devised ways to be accessible to His devotees. Today knowingly a Sevayat will not allow a follower of another religion inside the temple but will sing a janana (bhajan) written by Shal Beg. Within the Hindu practices, Buddhism offers a middle path of integration where the religious contours are blurred to a great extent by cultural values based on wisdom and moderation.

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