Attacks on the Jagannath Temple
Temples have been institutions that enjoyed patronage from kings and also from the common folks alike. This was the prime reason for any invader to attack a temple for their wealth. There’s also a religious angle, where the invading army would establish their religious supremacy after having attacked a temple.
Over the course of the 11–12 odd centuries of the written history of the Jagannath temple, the temple has been invaded a total of 18 times! Though there’s no evidence that the main structure had ever been raged down, the wealth has been taken, idols disfigured, and in some cases even burnt. Even when the idols have been burnt, the “brahma” that makes the neem tree wood idols a living deity has always been saved by one means or the other.
- Invasion by “Raktabahu” (800 A.D.)
The “Madalapanji”, records this invasion by the Rashtrakuta empire king, Govinda III alias Raktabahu as the first invasion of the Puri temple. He defeated the then king of Odisha Subhanadeva after reaching Puri through the sea route.
In this meantime, the King had fled Puri along with his associates and carrying the idols to his western frontier to Gopali village, near current-day Sonepur of Odisha. He buried the idols there until it was revived 146 years later by Yayati I performed Nabakalebara and brought the Lord back to his home.
The place where the three idols were buried is now referred to as “Patali Srikhetra” which is in the current-day Subarnapur district of Odisha.
2. Invasion by Illias Shahi (1340 A.D.)
Illias Shahi was the sultan of Bengal who took advantage of the weak northern defense of the then king Narasimhadeva III and attacked Puri. Illias Shahi bribed the commanders at the Raibania fort and was successful in reaching Puri.
The King couldn’t defend his people or the temple's wealth but had the idol hidden away at a secret location. The invader killed the people of Puri mercilessly and plundered all the temple wealth that they could.
3. Invasion by Feroz Shah Tughlaq (1360 A.D.)
Feroz Shah Tughlaq attacked Puri when it was under the rule of the Ganga dynasty King Bhanudeva III. The king was not in Puri when the attack happened, but when he reached with his army he found that Tughlaq had already left for Delhi.
Nothing is known about his desecration or plunder of the temple. However, some scholars believe that the idols were supposedly thrown in the sea by the invader, but there’s no evidence to support this in history.
4. Invasion by Ismail Ghazi (1509 A.D.)
Ismail Ghazi was the commander of the then Sultan of Bengal, Allaudin Hussain Shah. Puri was then under the protection of King Prataprudradeva who was in the south at the time of the invasion.
The priests of the temple sailed the three idols to an island in Chilika lake called “Chadeiguha pahada” (Bird-poop mountain) for their safekeeping.
On getting the news of the invasion, the King rushed back to protect Utkala and was successful in driving out the invaders to the point of Hooghly in Bengal.
5. Invasion by Kalapahada (1568 A.D.)
Perhaps the most dreaded and the most discussed invasion on the Jagannath temple has to be this one by Kalapahada. The local folklore is full of dreaded stories of this man, who had taken upon him to destroy all idols that the Hindus worshipped.
King Mukundadeva was the ruler of Puri when Kalapahada, one of the assistant army generals of the Afghan Sultan of Bengal, Sulaiman Karrani. This expedition was commanded by Karrani’s son Bayazid and was assisted by Sikander Uzbeg and Kalapahada.
The reason why Karrani decided to attack the kingdom was twofold. First, Mukundadeva had given political asylum to Ibrahim Sur, an enemy of the Sultan of Bengal. Second, in 1566 A.D. when Mughal emperor Akbar had sent envoys to the court of Mukundadeva, he reciprocated by sending a Hindu ambassador back to his court. These actions had created enough bad blood in the mind of the Afghani sultan against King Mukundadeva.
When Kalaphada attacked, King Mukundadeva sent Raghubhanja Chottray to resist the Bengal army but failed. Raghubhanja proved traitor and allowed Kalapahada to occupy Cuttack. King Mukundadeva had no choice but to surrender before the Bengal army. In the meantime, Ramachandra Bhanja, the commander of the Sarangagarh fort (Baranga) had rebelled against Mukundadeva, declared himself the king of Odisha. Faced with no choice, Mukundadeva entered into a treaty with Sulaiman and marched against Ramachandra Bhanja. Unfortunately, that was the battle where he was killed by the latter, and that marked the end of the last Hindu king of Odisha. Soon after, on that very day, Ramachandra Bhanja was killed by Bayazid, the fort of Sarangagarh had now fallen.
After the capture of forts at Cuttack and Sarangagarh, Kalapahada led his army to desecrate the temple of Jagannath at Puri. In this meantime, the servitors of Puri, on hearing the fall of Cuttack to the Muslims had taken the idol away and were hidden underground at Hastipatna in Parikuda, certain symbols had been used by the priests so that they could identify that hidden location.
Unfortunately, Kalahpahada could identify them and got the deities out. He carried them on elephant back to the banks of Ganga, where he burnt them. The burning was in progress when he felt a splitting body pain, his son pushed the half-burnt idols into the flowing river. A little downstream, a Vaishnavite saint, Bisher Mohanty, who by some account had followed Kalapahada on his way back collected the “brahma” from the idols, put it inside a mridanga, and consecrated it at a temple in Gadakujanga, of present-day Jagatsinghpur in Odisha. From 1568 to 1575 A.D., the brahma lived in that temple.
In 1575 A.D., it was Ramachandra Deva who got the brahma from there and kept it at Khordha fort for a year. In 1576 A.D., after a Nabakalebara, the deities were finally consecrated in the temple at Puri.
6. Invasion by Suleman and Osha (1592 A.D.)
After the fall of the Gajapati kingdom in 1568 A.D., Suleiman Karrani had appointed Qutlu Khan Lohani as governor of Puri respectively. Qutlu Khan’s son — Suleman aided by another general of the Bengal sultan, Isa Khan’s son, Osha jointly attacked the temple at Puri. They plundered the temple wealth, desecrated images at the temple, and also killed innocent civilians mercilessly.
This was the time when Ramachandradeva, the Bhoi dynasty ruler had established the kingdom at Khurda. Though he didn’t face the invaders, these invaders violated a treaty that was signed between Isa Khan and Raja Mansingh, the Mughal general in 1590 A.D. The Mughal general finally suppressed the militant activities of these two invaders.
7. Invasion by Mirza Khurram (1601 A.D.)
Mirza Khurram, was the commander of the Nawab of Bengal who attacked Puri during the Dola festival (the one celebrated a day before Holi). The servitors got a whiff of it and shifted the idols by boat through river Bhargavi to Kapileswarpur village near Puri.
When Mirza Khurram did arrive at the temple, he couldn’t find the idols and just took away all the underground treasury.
The deities lived at the Panchamukhi Gosani temple at Kapileswarpur, celebrated the Dola festival there, and thereafter were shifted to Dobandha Pentha where they stayed for 8 months, with only “Shital Bhoga” offerings.
8. Invasion by Hasim Khan (1608 A.D.)
Hasim Khan was the subedar of Odisha, when he attacked the temple in 1608 A.D. This was the time when Purushottam Deva was the King of Khurda, he got the deities to the Gopal temple at his capital even before Hasim reached Puri.
Though he couldn’t find the deity, just to satisfy his master, then Mughal emperor Jahangir, plundered the temple wealth and just left.
King Purushottam Deva returned the idols back to the temple in 1608 A.D.
9. Invasion by Kesodamaru (1610 A.D.)
Kesodamaru, was a Hindu Rajput who served under Hasim Khan. He arrived in Puri during the rath yatra disguised as a pilgrim along with his faithful soldiers who were without military uniform. They entered the temple, during the time when the deities were at the Gundicha temple. They converted it into a fort and looted crores worth of treasury of the temple.
Unfortunately at that time, King Purushottamdeva was not available at Puri. Upon hearing the news, he rushed in with all his military might. His famous paikas (soldiers) jumped into the temple climbing on the chariots and fought against the Rajput invaders within the temple premises.
Kesodamaru ordered his soldiers to burn the chariots that the paikas were using to enter the temple premises, they did and killed a lot many paikas that way. The King accepted defeat, and let the invaders escape.
The deities remained at the Gundicha temple for 8 months before being brought back on Vimanas, to the temple.
10. Invasion by Kalyan Mal (1611 A.D.)
Kalyan Mal, was the son of Raja Todar Mal, one of the navaratnas in the Mughal court of Akbar. He ruled over Orissa as subedar from 1611 to 1617 A.D. after Hasim Khan.
Like Kesodamaru, he wanted to satisfy Jahangir by plundering the temple at Puri. He marched against the King of Khurda, and captured many of his territories. King Purushottamdeva had no choice but to surrender before him. He even signed a treaty of peace and paid 3 lakhs rupees tribute to the royal exchequer, gave up his best elephant, Seshnag for use by the emperor.
Even before the battle, the servitors had moved the image to Mahisanasi in Chilika lake, which is now called Brahmapura or Chakanasi. The idols remained there for a year before being brought back to the temple at Puri. The invader could only take the temple treasures.
11. Invasion by Kalyan Mal (1612 A.D.)
Kalyan Mal had tried to attack the temple at Puri twice.
In the first attack he not only looted the treasure, but also treacherously murdered a minister of the king and sixteen skilled generals.
When he attacked the second time, the King was not present in Puri. However, his brave paikas took up the cause to save the state. They were successful in pushing the invaders beyond the northern border of Cuttack, killing many of his soldiers.
The vigilant servitors took the deities on a fleet of boat from Mahisanasi to “Lotani Baragaccha” (banyan tree) and then after that they were placed at the Dadhibamana temple.
That was the last time Kalyan Mal ever attacked the kingdom till his end of tenure in 1671 A.D.
12. Invasion by Mukarram Khan (1617 A.D.)
In 1617 A.D. Mughal emperor Jahangir appointed Mukarram Khan as the governor of Odisha. Right from the start, Mukarram Khan created a reign of terror and was very open about his display of hatred for idol worship.
In a panic, the temple priests carried the idols away to Gobapadar, near Puri where they were placed at the Bankanidhi temple.
Owing to the reign of terror that Mukarram Khan had created, the then king, Raja Purushottam Deva revolted. Mukarram Khan invaded Khurdha, and since the King couldn’t stop it from happening, he fled to Rajmundhry. The kingdom of Khurdha was annexed to the Mughals for a short time.
Mukarram Khan failed to locate the deities and fled with the riches and gold, but was drowned in water on the way back. Raja Purushottam Deva returned and instilled himself as the king of Khurda once again.
It was only in 1620 A.D. that the deities returned again to Puri.
13. Invasion by Mirza Ahmad Beg (1621 A.D.)
Mirza Ahmed Beg was the nephew of Mughal empress, Noorjahan. Ahmed Beg became the governor of Odisha in 1621 A.D.
He invaded Khurdha at a time when Purushottam Deva was trying to strengthen his position with the help of the chiefs of Banapur, Ranapur and Karnata. It was at Karnata where he finally died and was to be succeeded by his son, Narasingha Deva when Ahmed Beg intervened.
Mirza Ahmed Beg put forward two conditions — the new emperor should accept Mughal sovereignty and that the governor’s family would be lodged at Cuttack. Narasimha Deva rejected both the terms. Out of anger, Ahmed Beg attacked Khurda. The new king, Narasingha Deva was successful in resisting the attack.
However, during this time, the rebellious Mughal prince Shah Jahan arrived in Odisha with his army. Out of fear of being attacked, Ahmed Beg fled to Bengal.
Shah Jahan continued his march from Cuttack to Allahabad and Oudh across Odisha. This march of the Mughals, prompted the priests to carry the idols to Andharigada at the mouth of river Shalia across the Chilika lake. Efforts were made the transfer the brahma to Gadamanitri in Khurda district.
The trio was finally brought back to Puri in 1624 A.D. and the mahaprasad bhoga was re-introduced.
14. Invasion by Amir Mutaquad Khan (1645 A.D.)
Also known as Mirza Makki, he became the governor of Odisha in 1651 A.D. During his governorship, the then King Narasimha Deva was treacherously killed by his nephew Gangadhar who occupied the throne.
During the invasion, he not only plundered the temple but also the old palace at Balisahi.
The details about what happened to the idols or where they were hidden are not known.
15. Invasion by Amir Fateh Khan (1647 A.D.)
Amir Fateh Khan attacked the temple and plundered all its wealth in gold, gems stones, pearls, etc.
The details about what happened to the idols or where they were hidden are not known.
16. Invasion by order of Aurangzeb (1692 A.D.)
Emperor Aurangzeb, issued an order in 1692 A.D. to destroy the temple of Jagannath in Puri. At the time, the kingdom of Khurda was being ruled by Dibyasingha Deva.
Following Aurangzeb’s order, then Nawab of Odisha, Ekram Khan along with his brother Mastram Khan attacked the temple. Unable to face the invader, the king hid away in an unknown place. The deities were hidden behind the Bimala temple within the precincts of Srimandira.
The Nawab attacked and ransacked the temple, and even climbed up to the Ratna singhasana of Lord Jagannath.
The idols were then shifted one after another to Maa Bhagabati temple at Gadakokal in Brahmagiri block (the Madalapanji states that it was only the Bije-Pratima and not the actual idols). The deities were then moved from Gadakokal to Banpur across the Chilika lake.
It was only in 1699 A.D. that the Lord finally returned to the temple at Puri.
17. Invasion by Muhammad Taqi Khan (1731 A.D. and 1733 A.D.)
Taqi Khan invaded the temple twice, and with an iconoclastic zeal. He invaded to demolish the temple, desecrate the idols, plundered all he could. He was successful in everything except ever getting his hands on the trio.
The priests moved the idols to Hariswar in Banapur, then to Chikili in Khallikote, then Rumagarh in Kodala, then Athagada in Ganjam and then finally to Marda of Kodala.
Kodala, located in Athagada region was a safe place because it was under the rule of the Nizam of Hyderabad and not the Mughals. The ruler of Athagada, Jagannath Harichandan Jagdev, had strong relations with the Gajapati rulers of Khurda.
The idols were kept at Marda from 29th December 1733 till 31st December 1736. A beautiful temple was hastily constructed at Marda, and all rituals and festivals were religiously followed. It is even believed that the rath yatra was organized during this time as well. Marda is hence considered as Jagannath’s second home.
After the Lord moved to Puri, the temple remained vacant for centuries. Every Ekadasi day, an earthen lamp is lit and slokas in honor of the King who made a second home for the Lord is recited.
Around 1752 A.D. when the Maratha influence was high, the then King Birakishore Deva was afraid of a Maratha invasion of the Jagannath temple. To allay his fears, Maratha Dewan Bahadur Khan, wrote a letter to the King assuring that no invasion would happen on the temple under the Maratha rule, the worship of the Lord should continue without any more fear.
18. Invasion by followers of Mahima Dharma (1881 A.D.)
The followers of Mahima Dharma don’t believe in idol worship and shunned the worship of Jagannath. So in the year of 1881, a large number of followers of Mahima dharma gathered in Puri from Sambalpur and Raipur, and as per records, got the three idols out onto the Grand Trunk Road and set them on fire.
This was an incident that could have been avoided. But anyway, an FIR was lodged and all the invaders were put behind the bars.
The most significant feature in the history of invasion on the great temple of Lord Jagannath at Puri that in no case the ‘Brahma’ of the deities were destroyed which continued till today. The servitors played an important role in safeguarding the triad at the time of danger. The Kings have
taken care of the temple from destruction by surrendering before the invaders. In Ayodhya, Kasi and Mathura the mosques have been built in place of the temples due to Muslim invasion. At Puri, the temple of Lord Jagannath has always remained standing despite all invasions. No mosque had been erected which is the miracle of the deities. The people of Puri have suffered but kept the temple safe.
References:
- http://magazines.odisha.gov.in/Orissareview/2011/july/engpdf/82-89.pdf
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somavamshi_dynasty
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulaiman_Khan_Karrani
- http://magazines.odisha.gov.in/Orissareview/2018/Jun-July/engpdf/91-94.pdf
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puri
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isa_Khan
