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The famous Jagannatha Temple of Puri, themain centre of the cult in Orissa, was

plundered by Kalapahar, thetrusted general of SulaimanKarrani in 1568. It is said in theMadalapanji that he damaged thetower of Badadeula upto Amla.He also damaged the images ofall the Gods and tried to uprootthe Kalpabata. He took away ShriJagannath Mahaprabhu from Purito Tanda located on the bank ofthe Ganga. There he put the imageinto flame. A Quaji, however,disapproved his conduct ofburning the deity of Orissa forwhich his body was torn intopieces. In consequence he died. His son floatedthe images down the Ganga. The daru wasrescued by an Amura and thinking it to be awooden log, he kept it in his field. WhenJagannath Mahaprabhu was taken, one BisharaMahanty followed Him. He went in the guiseof Vaishnava and he stayed for 8 months in theguise of a drummer and requested for the Daru.He succeeded in getting the Brahma and placingit in the mrudanga and brought it toKujangagarh. It is during the reign ofRamachandradeva that the Brahma wasbrought from Kujangagarh and the images were

made in Khurdha-kataka. Later on, in the 11thanka of Ramachandradeva, God Shri

Purussotam was installed on theRatnasinghasan of the badadeula.All the Brahmans, Sanyasis, andBrahmacharis proclaimedMaharaja Shri Ramachandradevaas the II Indradyumna.1 Thedesecration of the JagannathTemple of Puri is fairlycorroborated by the Persiansources of the Afghan and theMoghul period. The Afsanah-i-Shahan of Shaikh Kabir Batini isthe earliest source, which throwslight on the Afghan conquest ofOrissa. The important information

in this text is that the original name ofKalapahar was Allahadad and he belonged tothe Batini Afghan clan. Mian AllahadadKalapahar became a famous general ofSulaiman Karrani Kalapahar (Black Mountain)was title given to a brave person during theAfghan period. During his conquest of OrissaKalapahar was informed, "that a huge idol washidden by people on the bank of the sea. He atonce reached the place and caught hold of theidol, the eyes of which were studded withvaluable pearls. Besides a big diamond formedits navel. Kalapahar got the idol broken in

Gloom and Bloom : The Caseof Jagannatha Temples in

Midnapore District

Prof. K.S. BeheraJagannatha, Balabhadra, Subhadra & Sudarsanat Tala Kesiadi Jagannath Temple, Medinapore.

Jagannath Temple Bahiri,East Medinapore.

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order to get thed i a m o n dundamaged. Healso seizedd i a m o n d s(from theOrissa nobles)along withother booty.The big

diamond was given by him to his vakil, calledMian Kanaka as a reward. It was consideredby the jewellers as priceless for beingmatchless. Later on it was seized by (Raja)Man Singh who presented it to Akbar."2 Nimat-lullah in his Makhzan-I-Afghan also refers tothe desecration of the Jagannatha Temple. It issaid by Niamat Ullah that3 every Afghan, whotook part in the campaign obtained as bootyone or two gold images. Kalapahara destroyedthe temple of Jagannatha in Puri whichcontained 700 idols made up of gold, thebiggest of which weighed 30 mands." AbulFazal also mentioned that Kalapahara, thegeneral of Sulaiman, on his conquest of thecountry" flung the image of Jagannath into fireand burnt it and afterwards cast it into the sea."

Though there are conflicting accountsabout the place where the image of Jagannathwas burnt, the combined evidence of the Purichronicle and the Persian sources makes itclear that there was no image of Jagannath onratnavedi of the Temple due to the surprisingraid of Kalapahar on the temple. Raja MukundaDev did his best to fight against the Afghans.In the battle, however, the Raja received fatalinjury as a result of assult by his own nobles.Orissa ultimately came under the Afghan rule.Sulaiman left for Tanda but Kalapaharremained in Orissa. Kalapahar died in westernOrissa in 1570. Sulaiman Karrani died in 1572.

The re-establishment of Jagannatha at Puri wasnot possible during the time of SulaimanKarrani and Kalapahar and exactly on whichdate the reinstallment took place is still a matterof debate. According to the researches ofHerman Kulke4 the renewal of the cult at Puricould have been possible after Mansingh'streaty in 1590. In 1590 the Afghans agreed tosurrender the Temple of Jagannath and thesacred domains or the khetra to the MoghulEmperor. John Beams5 observes," TheGovernor of Bengal at this time was Raja ManSingh, who as a Hindu, was highly pleased atrescuing the holy city from the hands of theinfields who had long exercised a cruel andtyrannous sway over the priests." In any casethe renewal of Jagannath cult underRamachandra Dev of Khurdha was alreadycompleted before Raja Mansingh's pilgrimageto Puri in 1592. Thus it may be assumed thatafter Kalapahar's raids the Ratnavedi waswithout its presiding deities for about 22 years.This was a great psychological shock to thepeople of Orissa as Jagannatha is the symbolof Orissa's identity. During these critical yearsthe atmosphere in Puri was filled with gloom.The later events, however, show that thesetback was a temporary one and with

Jagannatha, Balabhadra & Subhadraat Modern Jagannath Temple, Bahiri,

East Medinapore.

Modern Jagannath Temple, Bahiri,East Medinapore.

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reinstallation of Jagannath at Puri, the glory ofthe cult was vindicated. The dark phase hasended.

In contrast, away from the center at Puri,in the peripheral region in the northern frontierJagannatha temple came to be established in1584 A.D. in Midnapore district. Midnaporecame under strong political and culturalinfluence of Orissa. When Sulaiman Karranileft with his army for Orissa and arrived nearMidnapore, Raja Mukunda Dev went there tooppose him with 40,000 sawars, 4000elephants and innumerable foot soldiers. Whennews about the capture of Cuttack fort byBayazid and Kalapahar reached him he had toretreat for the defence of the Cuttack fort. InMidnapur District Jagannath Temple waserected in 1584 A.D. One Vibhisan, the son ofPadmanabha, dedicated a temple in honour ofJagannath at Deulbad, Bahirigrama, nearContai in Midnapore district. The inscription6mentions the installation of the images ofGopal, Rama (Balarama), Jagannath andSubhadra. The inscription engraved in Oriyascript runs as follows :

1. Kasidasa-kule Vibhisana iti Sri Padmanabh-atmajah Sriman= aviravud= acikarata saprasadam=uccair=imam

2. Gopala-pratimam ca samyag=anaghaih sadbhihpratistham dvijai=Ramam c=eha Subhadrayasaha Jaganatham nyadhasid=api

1. Pautrah Sri Dharanidharasya bhagavat-sunor=dvijanm-agranih Sriman=ArjjunaMisraity=abhihitasy=acarya-cudamaneh

2. Putras=Cakradharah kavindra-iti yatnat sapratistha-vidhim prasadasya Vibhisanasyavidhina krtva viramam gatah"

The building of a lofty temple in honourof Jagannatha Trinity in the saka year 1506 i.e.1584 A.D. is very significant when by that timerenewal of Jagannatha at Puri has not takenplace. The temple is of the rekha order, whichresembles the Orissan temple style. It may bementioned that the rekha and pidha style ofOrissan temple exercised a profound influencein Midnapore and Bankura districts of WestBengal. The Sarvamangala temple at Kesiadihas Oriya inscriptions and the temple is of thepidha order. One Oriya inscription is dated inthe saka year 1526 i.e. 1604 A.D. belonging totime of Manasingh Maharaja. It appears thatas a result of tolerant policy of Akbar and RajaMansingh (1590-1605) building activitiescontinued in coastal Orissa.

T w oinscriptions havebeen discoveredfrom Srijang inBalasore district.One dated sakayear 1517 i.e.1595 A.D. refersto 34 anka ofG a j a p a t iR a m a c h a n d r aDev duringBadasa Akbar andMansingh. Theinscription refers

Jagannatha, Balabhadra & Subhadra at Mohanpur JagannathTemple, Medinapore.

Mohanpur Jagannath Temple,Medinapore.

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to the excavation of Achutasagar tank by AchutaBaliarsingh Mahapatra. Another inscriptionfrom the same place dated saka year 1520(1598) A.D. belongs to 37 anka ofRamachandra Dev of Khurdha. It refers to theexcavation of lake Achutabanga by the sameBaliarsingh Mahapatra. A temple inscriptionfound near Manjuri road refers to the 8th ankaof Birashree Gajapati Goudeswar navakotiKarnata Kalabargeswar Shri PurussotamMaharaja. It also refers to arrival of MaharajaMansingh and construction of deulamandapaof Sthaneswar Dev by the Jagirder of Manjuricalled Jayamalla vidasha. The inscription alsomentions sevakas such as Mali, sankhua,tahalia, mandapa khuntia, etc. the use of high-sounding titles Purussotam Deva of KhurdhaRaj family seeks to consolidate power toSuryavamsi Gajapati throne. The inscriptionsin coastal Orissa and the neighbouringMidinapore indicate that Orissa enjoyed peace,which provided the congenial atmosphere forbuilding activities. In course of time, severalJagannath Temples came to be erected inMidnapore district. The influence of Jagannathcult was so strong that in Ramajee Temple inMahisadal (built in 1788 A.D.) the image ofShri Rama Chandra was replaced by JagannathTrinity when the Ramachandra image wasstolen. In Talakesiadi there is a JagannathaTemple of the rekha order in which the woodenimages of the trinity are worshipped. In placeof Sudarshan, however, a small image ofJagannatha was worshipped as Sudarshan. InOrissa, Sudarshan resembles a stambha or achakra, but here the deity is represented by asmall figure of Jagannath. There is a modernJagannath temple at Bahirigam with woodenimages of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra.At Mohanpur in Midnapore district, about15km from Jaleswar, there is a Jagannath

temple which is in a ruined condition andrequires preservation. The tmeple could havebeen built in the 18th century. In recent years aJagannatha Temple has been built at Kharagpur.Jagannatha Temple is also found at Dantan andin the village of Sonakania in the vicinity ofLaxmannath. Kedarnath Mohapatra7 in a smallmonograph has mentioned several Jagannathtemples in eastern India. In view of theimportance of the subject and the spread of thecult to different parts of India, it is necessaryto make a systematic survey of the temples inIndia and abroad, especially the medievalJagannath temples in the Himalayan Hindukingdom of Nepal.

References :1. Madalapanji, A.B. Mahanty ed., Orissa Sahitya

Akademi edition, 2004, pp.40-43.

2. For English translation of the extracts fromAfsanah-I-Shahan, I.H. Siddiqui, MughalRelations with the Indian Ruling Elite, NewDelhi. 1983, p.157.

3. M.A. Rahim, History of the Afghans in India,Karachi, 1961, p.177f.

4. Eschmann, Kulke, Tripathi, ed. The Cult ofJagannath and the Regional tradition ofOrissa, 1978, New Delhi, p.324f.

5. N.K. Sahu, A History of Orissa, Vol.II, NewDelhi, 1980, p.298.

6. A.K. Bhattacharya, A Corpus of DedicatoryInscriptions from Temples of West Bengal,Calcutta, 1982, p.54.

7. K.N. Mahapatra, The Jagannath Temples inEastern India, Bhubaneswar 1977.

Prof. K.S. Behera is the Emeritus Fellow, Departmentof Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archeology,Utkal University, Bhubaneswar - 751004.