Lord Jagannath (The Lord of the Universe)

Lord Jagannath is one of the many forms that Lord Krsna appears as. The name means master (nath) of the universe (jagat). Lord Jagannath is considered amongst devotees of Lord Krsna to be a very merciful form of the Lord. The oldest and most famous Jagannath deity is in the city of Puri, in Orissa, south east India (the city is known to many as Jagannath Puri) where each year the famous Ratha Yatra festival takes place in June-July. Lord Jagannath is worshipped by Hindus all over the world. The Jagannath Temple in Puri is regarded as one of the four most sacred Hindu pilgrimage places in India. The others being Dwaraka (in Gujarat), Ramesvaram (South India), and Badrinath (in the Himalayas).

There are two interesting lilas (true stories) associated with Lord Jagananath. Of course there are so many pastimes of Lord Jagannath but we shall only mention two in this article. The first Lila (pastime) is how Lord Krishna appeared to a great devotee of the Lord, King Indradyumna and ordered him to carve a deity from a log he would find washed up on the sea shore. King Indradyumna found a mysterious old Brahmin carpenter to carve the deity, but the carpenter insisted that he not be disturbed while he was carving the deity. The king waited anxiously outside his room, but after some time, all sound stopped. The impatient Indradyumna worried what had happened and assuming the worst, opened the doors - only to find the deity half-finished and the carpenter gone! The mysterious carpenter was none other than Vishvakarma, the heavenly architect. The king was distraught as the deity had no arms and legs. Utterly repentant that he had interrupted the carving, the king was only pacified when Narada muni appeared and explained that the form the king now sees is a legitimate form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

The second lila is to further explain and remove any doubts and confusion. The reason for Lord Jagannath's appearance is the story of how Lord Krishna was eavesdropping on the gopis as they spoke amongst themselves of His pastimes, and how much they loved him. Lord Krsna’s sister Subhadra was instructed to keep watch and ensure Lord Krishna wasn't nearby while the gopis spoke of Lord Krishna. But after a while Subhadra was so overwhelmed by the gopis' devotion and their stories that she became completely engrossed in listening. She didn't see the brothers Krishna and Balarama approaching. As the brothers listened their hairs stood on end, their arms retracted, their eyes grew larger and larger, and they smiled broadly in ecstasy. That is why Jagannath, Balarama and Subhadra look like they do.

Now why you would ask are there two different versions of the Lilas of Lord Jagannath? You must understand that there are 36 yugas (Ages). And in each Yuga (age) the Lord performs His pastimes differently. Every time Shri Rama appears the Lila of Ramayana is different. So is the lilas of how Lord Ganeshji lost his head. N.B each Yuga is 4,320,000 earth years.