The siblings - Lord JagganNath, Lord Balarama and in the middle, their beloved sister Subhadra - Seen here in their daily, simple shringar - 61kb
Lord Shri JagganNathji
Darshan's of the Lord of Puri's festival attire
Lord Shri JagganNathji of Orrisa, on the coast of Bay of Bengal, is one of the most ancient deities in India. Pre-Aryan origins of His icon and cult are well commented on. Over the centuries, specific historical and legendary events have been celebrated as "festivals" at this Eastern spiritual centre of India. Lord JagganNath wears special "shringars" at such festivals.
Festival shringars include special masks, hands and feet, which are appended to the great icon of the Lord. This allows the devotees to "view" the Lord's lilas as described by the scriptures. This was particularly important at a time when literacy was confined to a few members of the community and the visual medium was essential for educating the masses. The clever and often ingenious ways of transforming the Lord from one svarup to another, bears testimony to the artisitc abilities of the priests of Puri.
Vaman Vesh, Lord re-enacting the lila of Vaman avatar by carrying a ritual water pot, sacred grass and a parasol - 40kb
Tri-Vikram Vesh, at king Bali's yagna, Lord Vaman (small) suddenly became Virat (immense) !!! As He covered the entire universe in His three strides, the Vedas refer to him as TriViram - He who conquered in three steps !!! - 52kb
Narsimha Vesh, Lord slaughtering the demon HiranyaKashyapu to protect the child Prahalada in His incarnation as NaraSimha - half-man-half-lion - 52kb
Nagarjun Vesh, Lord dressed for battle in His incarnation as Lord ParshuRama to defeat king Nagarjun - 41kb
Gaja Vesh, Lord wearing an elephant mask to envoke the Lord Ganesha after his bathing ceremony on Jestha Purnima. - 47kb
Suvarna Vesh, Lord dressed in all His golden finery - 46kb
Padma Vesh, Lord wearing a lotus mask and several lotus garlands - 52kb
Sharada Vesh, Lord dressed as the Goddess Sharada, Goddess of Learning - worn on the Divali day - 44kb
Nagadaman, Lord re-enacting His lila of Krshna avatar by dancing on the many headed serpent Kaliya - 61kb
Bada Vesh, Lord adorned by innumerable garlands of flowers, an attire often repeated at night during the festive seasons - 45kb
With kind permission, more information about the festivals and vesha of the Lord are copied here from Richard Leighton's excellent site.
Please note, the descriptions given above are accurate to the best of our knowledge. If anyone knows more about these shringars of the Lord JaganNathji, please send me an email.
Read about Lord JagNathji's Rath Yatra and Puri.
Index of ShriNathji's Galleries
