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Jagannatha cult is not sectarian in nature, it is acosmopolitan and eclectic philosophy. In courseof time, the cult took an Aryanized form andvarious major faiths like, Saktism, Vaishnavism,Tantricism, Jainism and Buddhism have beenassimilated into it. There is another cult known asMahima cult whichhas also manysimilarities withJagannath cult. Thispaper makes anattempt to analysethe similarities ofMahima cult withJagannath cult.What ever may bethe different forms ofthis cult, it has beenadmitted by different scholars that this Jagannathcult is the centre; around which divergent currentsand cross currents have revolved in course of timeas the ways of all rivers have fallen into one sea.

It is said that, Mahimadharma alwayswent against image worship. So at first time, ithad opposed Jagannath cult. But when we seethe different aspects of both the cults then we canknow that all these two religions have onephilosophy, one thought and many similaritiesbetween them. Mahimadharma doesn’t

Similarities Between Jagannath Cult and MahimaCult : A Comparative Study

Dr. Rekharani Khuntia

completely oppose Jagannath cult. It is only areformation movement that turned againstJagannath worship, The thorough analysis of thewritings of Bhima Bhoi, one of the harbingers ofMahima cult and the usual rites of the Mahimafollowers will give a clear idea about the relation

of Mahima dharmawith the Jagannathcult. In this regard,Eshmanna cited that“this Mahimamovement derivesits criticism of theHindu traditiondirectly from thetradition of itself,thus standing in analmost paradoxical

two fold relation to the tradition which it acceptson the one hand and rejects on the other.”

Bhima Bhoi has interpreted AlekhaPrabhu as Jagatara tata (father of universe),Jagannath (lord of universe), Chakadola, Kalia,Madanamohana, Pitavasa, Venudhara (holdingflute). Sometimes he also describes AlekhaPrabhu as Visnhu, He, is Narayana,theKhirasindhuvasi (Who lives in the milk ocean).From this, we know that both these two cults aresame, and all the cults worship the God in one

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name. So the writings of Bhima Bhoi is no wayagainst the Jagannath cult but he only opposed tothe superstitions in Jagannath cult.

Besides the name of God, there are manysimilarities between the philosophical aspects ofboth the cults. Jagannath cult is always relatedwith Veda, Upanishad, Gita, Bhagabat,Panchasakha religion etc. All the philosophical,spiritual and moral things have been related withSri Jagannath cult. He is omnipresent. Both thesetwo cults namely Mahima and Jagannath arerelated with Panchasakha tradition ofVaishnavism.

The first conception is the ideology ofSunya which is followed by both the cults. It wasformulated by the Panchasakhas. Balarama Dasin the first chapter of ‘Sarasvata Gita” declaresthat Sunya and Brahma are identical ideas and inhis ‘Siddhanta Dambaru' he presents a Bijamantrawhich reads ‘Om Salutation to Sunya-Brahma’.It may be pointed here that Brahma in its Sagunaaspect is perceived in the world manifestations,while in its Nirguna form it is conceived as theprime mover behind all such manifestations. Thisideology appears to be the same as that of theMahima cult where the world manifestationsbecome unrecognizably unified with Sunya.

Both these two cults describe their Godsas, ‘Sunya Purusa’ or Supreme Being.Achyutananda Das in his ‘Sunya Samhita’ states– “You have well asked me of the esotericmystery. The Sunya Purusa is just a prisoner inSunya and creating all illusions. He furtheremphasizes in his “Nitya Rasa” that the supremeentity not only creates the whole universe but alsoHe sports inside ‘Sunya’ with His permanentassociates which he described as ‘Nitya Rasa’.

Chaitanya Dasa, a contemporary of thepanchasakhas in his “Visnugarbha Purana’ writesthat the incomprehensible. Being has neither form

nor colour, He is the great void and He has noexistence. He is not a shape and shapeless is hisbody and so he remains in Sunya with the Sunya.One who possesses a body cannot describe thesecret of his form, because even veda fails todepict His merit. He in his book, “NirgunaMahatmya’ declares that the beginning less andthe shapeless lord fulfills the desire foremancipation of the living creatures. In the faithof the devotees, He resides in all the materialbodies. The mahima cult also declares their Godas Anakar, Nirajana, Alekha, Achyuta, Ananta.Though, they have not supported the imageworship but they have believed in the sameideology of Sunya Brahma.

Secondly like Upanishads both these cultsclaim the Absolute reality of God or Non-dualitythat the Parama Brahma in one and withoutsecond. Bhima Bhoi says, ‘I will serve onereligion, one name and one Brahman.’ Here wefind a close similarity between Jagannath cult andMahimadharma. Like the Non-duality ofSanakaracharya both these two cults claim all themultiplicity and duality of the empirical worldwhich is due to neiscence finally fuse into it andforget all their distinctions as the rivers in theocean.

Thirdly, both these two cults believe incosmology i.e synthesis of two opposite trends-the dualism of Sankhya and monism of Vedantas.According to Vaishnavites of Orissa, the processof creation is the result of the union of space(Yogamaya) and time (Kalarupa), symbolicallyexpressed as the union of the primordial Saktiand Phallus. According to Sankhya thinker thematerial cause which undergoes a realmodification and is a composite of three qualities :Sattwa, Raja and Tama. Reference may be madehere to Bhima Bhoi’s Stuti Chintamani whichfavours the same hypothesis.

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Fourthly, both these two cults believe inNiskama Bhakti or desireless devotion as the aimof religion and law of Karma. Both Gita andBhima Bhoi’s writings depict above NiskamaBhakti that “A person having no desire is worthyto be my disciple”. Bhima Bhoi speaks that if onehas good deeds in his previous birth, he canachieve Brahmajnana. Man is mortal and illusionsurrounds him. He will be free fromtransmigrations by uttering the name of Alekha orGod. The most important aspect of both thesecults are the Niskam Bhakti Yoga. The aims ofYoga system are to control disease, decay, anddeath through physical culture and to realize theAlekha Niranjan (the formless and spotless) bytransmuting the subtler body into a gross physicalsuper conscious one.

Fifthly, one of important features of theYoga system of these cults are the Guru Vadaand ‘Pinda Brahmanda’. The Indian culture givesprime importance to Guru Balaram Das in hisGupta Gita says “Guru is Brahma, Hari and Haraand He is also the formless voil himself.”Bhimabhoi of Mahima cult also says Guru is theremover of ignorance. Ignorance can be removedby the realization of Param Brahma. As he is theonly destroyer of ignorance, he is the only trueGuru. This Guruvada is also accepted in thePuranic and Upanishadic literature of the Hindus.In case of the Orissan Vaishnavas, however LordJagannath is regarded as the ultimate Guru notonly of the individual but also of the wholeuniverse.

Both these two cults believe in PindaBrahmanda theory. ‘The principle of identifyingthe human body with the universe is markedlypresent in the Yogic Philosophy of the Jagannathcult. All the Oriya philosophers declare in almostthe same voice that the entire universe is locatedwithin body and that the Pinda and Brahmanda

are one and the same. In ‘Saptanga Yogasara Tika’of Balaram Das and in ‘Siva Svarodaya’ ofYasovanta Das, they depicts the various phasesof time are explained with reference to thefunctions of the vital winds in the nervous system,and it pointed out that by controlling the vital windone might escape from the malignant influence of‘ Whirl of time.’

Here Bhimabhoi says about ParamaBrahma that He is the master of three words. Heis present in the heart of wicked and good. He isomnipresent in the form of soul in all forms. Thistheory is the concept of Jivatma and Paramatma.The relationship between them is depicted in theAdianta Gita; of Bhimbhoi.; He also sought thevarious places of the universe within thehumanbody. According to him the body is of eightleagues which contains Param Brahman within.This body is the manifestation of 3 idols i.e.Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra. This bodyis like an inverted tree. Both agree in the samePinda Brahmanda theory. According to them thereare the Astakula Naga in the feet, the sevenuniverses in the head, the seven oceans within thebody, the forceful sound indicates the presenceof Nada Brahma. Brahma, the creator of Veda,exists in the naval, lord Jagannath in the heart,Sadasiva in the throat, Param Brahma exists onthe Alekhapura at the peak of the Skull. He willrealize this will get the salvation. But onedifference between these two cults are thatMahimaites say if God lives in the heart and bodyof the man so there is no necessity of worshippingGods and Goddesses in the shape of all images.Bhimabhoi says, “ Everything is within you, neverwander outside.” Jagannath is within this body. Itis needless to worship the idol. The idol is a drywood. How can it lead us to salvation? One isdeceived without realizing the inner thing in thebody. The human body is compared withNarayana and Astabrahma. True religion is to be

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found not in external practices i.e. idol worshipbut inward realization of Param Brahma i.e.Antargata Anubhava.

Besides, all these similarities, both thesecults, practice many things like the Yanjna ofJagannath cult, the Mahimites follow the practiceof Dhuni Yoga practices.

Though there are many similaritiesbetween them, it is said that in 1881 someKumbhipatias of Sambalpur became jealous ofthe statues of the Lord Jagannath as they wereagainst idolatry. J.S Armstrong, the thenMagistrate of Puri has given the account that somefollowers of the Mahima cult attacked Jagannathtemple on 1st March 1881. But they were arrestedby police and were placed on the trial and hadgiven imprisonment for 3 months in Jail. B.CMajumdar mentions that a large number ofKumbhipatias (Mahima followers) led byBhimbhoi himself marched towards Puri tochallenge the worship of Jagannath. The Gazetteerof Sambalpur and C.E Buckland described thata party of fanatics went to Puri with the object ofburning the idol of Jagannath but there is nomentions of the name of Bhima Bhoi with them.

In this way though the Mahima cult hadsupported the philosophical thought of Jagannathcult but it had gone against image worship. Bothare rooted in Vedic foundation. But the Mahimacult is an indigenous reform movement within theHindu fold. It does not accept Maya as the causeof creation. It admits that the world is a realcreation of Him, through Him (Mahima). LordJagannath of Puri, the highest deity of the Hinduismis considered identical with Krishna. Vishnu, butMahima religion does not believe in image worshipand supremacy of Lord Jagannath as such.Mahima Swami had to fight like a reformer againstthe Brahmanical orthodoxy, superstitions relatedwith Jagannath. Though it emerged as a challenge

against the Brahmanical orthodoxy, it was notspecifically meant against the Brahmins. So fromthese discussions it is proved that Mahima cultwas not opposed to Jagannath cult. Bhimabhoihimself writes, “Mahimaswami appeared in theage of Kali. You all surrender yourself to the Lordnow. Submitting yourself, enjoy salvation and seein your own eyes the form of Buddha (Jagannath).Dhenkanal magistrate mentions thatMahimaswami believed in the existence of HinduGods and Goddesses but to them, they are underhis commands and that they are bound to obeywhatever He wished them to do”. It is concludedthat, like the Nirguna. Bhakti followers, they areagainst idolatry, pilgrimage, and offering worshipto the ancestors. They also oppose the wearingof beeds and use of sandal marks.

References :1. P.K. Pradhan (editor), “Study of the Decline of a

Movement of Resistance against Dominance”(Mahimadharma of Past and Present), B.B.S.R.,2010.

2. K.C. Mishra, ‘The cult of Jagannath, Calcutta,1984, Pp. 158-167.

3. P. Bahinipati, “Mahima Dharma: InterpretingHistory, Trends, and Tradition”, Gyanayugapublication, Bhubaneswar, 2009.

4. S.Das , “A Treatise on Mahima Dharma ,”Bhubaneswar, Pp- 122-136.

5. N.Senapati, (Chief Editor), Orissa DistrictGazetteers, Dhenkanal , Orissa Govt. Press,Cuttack, 1972. Pp- 443-448.

6. N.P. Tripathy and others, (Compiled and edited),“Jagannath in Alien Eyes” Utkal, Kolkata, 2003.

7. S. Nath, The Mahima movement and its socialimpact in Bulletin of History seminar, publishedby P.G. Dept. of History, Utkal University, 1983-1984, Bhubaneswar.

Dr. Rekharani Khuntia, Lecturer in History, DharmasalaMahavidyalaya, Jaraka, Jajpur- 755050.