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Orissa Review
July - 2003
Jagannatha-Puri - which is simply called Puri
is well-known throughout India as a place of
pilgrimage from the days of yore.1 An attempt
has been made in this paper to
show how this place was also a
chief centre of learning in Orissa
through the ages.
In ancient India religion
and learning were very closely
inter-mingled and each Tirtha or
holy place was also a centre of
learning and culture. Puri was no
exception to this general rule.
Though Puri as a Tirtha first finds
mention in the Vanaparva of the
Mahabharata, and its sanctity and
glory are elaborately described in
the Kurma Purana, Narada Purana,
Padma Purana, and the Vishnu
Khanda of the Skanda Purana, still
its cultural history can be definitely traced from
the 7th century of the Christian era, when
Indrabhuti the founder of the Vajrayana sect of
Buddhism flourished in Oddiyana or Orissa.
Indrabhuti and his sister Lakshminkara, were
closely associated with this place, which was
then a centre of Vajrayana in Eastern India.
Indrabhuti begins his famous work
'Jnanasiddhi'2 after offering his prayer to
Jagannatha, the manifestation of the Buddha in
its Mangalacharana.
Pranipatya Jagannatha Sarbajinabararchitam.
Sarbabuddhamayam Siddhibyapinam Gaganopamam.
(First verse of Chapter I)
There are also
references to Jagannatha in
four other verses of this
work.3 The influence of the
writings of Indrabhuti, who
was an author of a lot of
books on Vajrayana, was so
great and deep-rooted in
this land of his birth that
traditions regarding the
Buddhist incarnation of
Jagannatha have been
current in Orissa for
centuries and found
expression in the Oriya
literature of the fifteenth,
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Next we come to the age of the great
Sankaracharya (788-820 A.D.) who in course
of his spiritual conquest of the whole of India,
stayed at Puri, which was well-known by his
time as a chief centre of religion and culture,
and founded one of his four Pithas called
'Goavardhana Pitha' here which has remained
in existence till today. Sri Padmapadacharya,
one of his four disciples, who was also a
Nambudiri Brahmana like his Guru was placed
Jagannatha Puri as a Centre of Culture
Through the Ages
Kedar Nath Mahapatra
18 July - 2003
Orissa Review
as the first Jagatguru or spiritual head of this
Pitha. According to tradition Sankara defeated
the Buddist Pandits of this place by his vast
learning and irrefutable arguments, converted
most of them to his own faith and proclaimed
Jagannatha Buddha as identical with the great
Brahmanical god Purushottama of the Gita.
This peaceful process of assimilation of a great
Buddhist deity into the patheon of Brahmanism,
strengthened its influence at Jagannatha-Puri,
which was a strong centre of Buddhism before
his days. In commemoration of this great event,
the images of Sri Sankara and Sri Padmapada
were installed on the Ratnasimhasana of
Jagannatha for worship. It is known from
Madalapanji, the chronicle of the Jagannatha
temple written in Oriya language that their
images were removed from that place during
the reign of Divyasimha Deva II (1793-1798)
Raja of Puri.4
Establishment of a Pitha by Sankara at
Jagannatha-Puri forms a landmark in the history
of Orissa, as it was followed by the revival of
Sanskrit learning and literature in this area. In
this age of revival just after a few years of
Sankara's visit to Puri, we find that the famous
drama 'Anargha Raghava Natakam' by Murari
was staged at Puri before an audience of
learned people at the time of a festival (Yatra)
of god Purushottama, the consort of Kamala,
who was being worshipped in the Tamala
forest on the sea shore, as will be evident from
the speech of the Sutradhara quoted below :
Nandyate Sutradharah. - Alamati Bistarena. Bho Bho
Labanoda-bela-banali - Tamalataru - kandalasya
Tribhuvana - moulimandana - mahanilamaneh
kamalakucha - kalasakole - kasturikapatrankurasya
Bhagabatah Purusottamasya Jatraya Mapasthaniya
Sabhasadah.
In this connection it may be stated that
all the three dramas of Bhavabhuti namely
Malati madhava, Mahavira Charita and Uttara
Rama-Charita were staged in festival times of
god Kalapriya Natha, who has rightly been
identified with the Siva of that name, whose
temple existed in Kanyakubja, the capital of
his patron Yasovarman.6 Similarly Murari who
wrote Anargha Raghava in imitation of
'Mahavira Charita' of Bhavabhuti, got it
performed at the time of the Car festival of
god Purushottama or Jagannatha, who must
have been the family-deity of his royal patron,
whose name remains yet to be traced.
Nothing definite is known about the
cultural history of Puri for a period of two
hundred years after Murari (850-1050) except
the description of the temple of Purushottama-
Jagannatha in the "Probadha Chandrodaya
Natakam"7 of Krishna Mishra (1050-1070) who
is traditionally assigned to Orissa, but definite
evidence is still lacking to prove the truth of
this tradition.
The darkness that shrouds the cultural
history of this place for a period of two
hundred years suddenly disappears, when we
come to Satananda, the famous astronomer,
who clearly states in the last verses of his
known and published work 'Bhasvati' that he
belonged to Purushottama, Purusottamasya was
the some of Samkara and Sarasvati and finished
his work in the Kaliyuga year 4200 or 1099
A.D. Another work on astronomy by Satanada
called 'Ratnamala' which is not yet published,
begins with benediction to Purushottama
Tasmei Namah Sri Purusottamaya,8 It is
referred to by famous Smriti writers of Orissa
like Vidyakara Vajapeyi, Narasimha Vajapeyi
and Visvanatha Misra as Ratnamalayam or
Satanandarathamalayam. The manuscripts of
this work are found in different parts of Orissa.
It may be noted here that Satananda who lived
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July - 2003
in Puri is said by his commentator to have based
his calculation on the meridian of his native
city.9
The construction of the present
Jagannatha temple in place of the small old
dilapidated temple, some time after the
conquest and annexation of Orissa by
Cholaganga Deva in 1112 A.D. was an epochmaking
event in the history of Orissa. From
this time Orissa steadily became a very
powerful state, and it could not only retain its
independence and power, when the whole of
Northern India came under the Muslim
subjugation by 1200 A.D. but the invading
Muslim army of Bengal was repeatedly
defeated by its military strength.
From the Chatesvar inscription, it is
known that there was great revival of Hindu
religion and Sanskrit literature during the reign
of Anangabhima Deva III (1211-1238) by
whose efforts recensions of Puranas were
made and Vedic literature was properly
studied.10 It was during the reign of Cholaganga
Deva over the whole of Utkal (1112-1147) that
Sri Ramanuja in course of his Journey from
Melukote to Delhi and back between 1107 to
1117 A.D. visited and stayed at Puri for some
time. The effect of his visit was the change of
religious faith of Cholaganga Deva who
became a 'Parama Vaishnava' since 1112 A.D.,
though he at first as well as his fore-fathers
were 'Parama Mahesvara' for about 600 years
in commemoration of his visit to Puri, Sri
Ramanuja established a Matha there, which
still goes by his name. His disciple Govinda
established the 'Emar Matha' at Puri, which is
the greatest Matha in Orissa at present. It may
be noted here that the Oriya word 'Emar' is the
shortened form of the original Tamil word 'Emperu-
man-ar'. The existence of the Alvarnatha
Temple 16 miles to the south of Puri and a
village named Alwarpur (Oriya Alarpur) three
miles to the east of Bhubaneswar are also
reminiscent of the visit of Ramanuja, the last
of Alwars to Puri.
Vishnu Svami, another famous
Vaishnava preacher of Southern India, also
visited Puri in the second half of the twelfth
century and established a Matha here near the
markandesvara tank which is still called
'Vishnusvami Matha' after his name. There are
also two other small Mathas of his sect in this
sacred place. Nimbarka, another Vaishnava
reformer of the South also came to Puri to
establish Mathas of his religious faith here. Of
the five Mathas of this sect at Puri, the 'Radhaballava
Matha' standing just to the east of the
Lion's Gate of the Jagannatha temple is noteworthy.
Madhava Acharya or Ananda Tirtha,
the last of the four famous Vaishnava reformers
of Southern India also visited Puri in the last
part of the twelfth century. A lot of epigraphic
records about the activities of his famous
disciple Narahari Tirtha are still found in the
Srikurma and Simhachala temples.11 The
coming of these four famous reformers of the
South to Puri within a century (circa 1112-1212
A.D.) greatly stimulated the cultural activities
of this holy place.
Research on this period of the history
of Orissa has proved that Govardhana
Acharya, the author of "Arya Saptasati"
flourished near about Puri. The fact that he is
mentioned in the 'Gitagovinda' of Jayadeva
along with Umapati Dhara, Sarana and Dhoyi,
the three great poets of Bengal, does not prove
either he belonged to Bengal, or he adorned
the court of Lakshmana Sena. On the contrary,
there is definite proof that the poet Udayana,
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Orissa Review
the younger brother of Gobardhana Acharya
mentioned in the last part of Saptasati belonged
to the district of Puri as the two inscriptions
belonging to the Meghesvara temple of
Bhubaneswar12 and the Sobhanesvara temple
in the Brahmin village Niali, on the famous
Prachi river of the Puri district13 were
composed by poet Udayana. By these two
records it is proved that he was patronised by
the vassals of the Ganga Emperors, Rajaraja
Deva II (1170-1190 A.D.) and Anangabhima
Deva II (1191-1198 A.D.). So Udayana lived
in the Puri district in the last quarter of the
twelfth century. So the tradition stating that
Gobardhana lived in the Jagannatha Puri is
supported by two contemporary epigraphic
records referred to above.
The very names 'Gobardhana' and
'Balabhadra' (his younger brother) most
probably indicate their association with Puri,
where 'Gobardhana Matha' is one of the oldest
living institutions, and Balabhadra a greatest
deity of the locality.
Similarly many eminent scholars are of
opinion that the great poet Jayadeva, author of
the 'Gitagovinda' belonged to Bengal and
adorned the court of Laksmana Sena as he
mentions the names of three poets of Bengal
named above in his work. But I beg to point
out that none of these two theories seems
tenable in view of the few facts stated below.
The village 'Kenduvilva' unanimously
accepted to have been the birth place of
Jayadeva can satisfactorily be identified with
the present Kenduli Shasana (Brahmin village)
on the river Prachi in the district of Puri. One
will simply be astonished to find a large
number of four-armed Vishnu images belonging
to a period from (circa 800-1200 A.D.) in
every important villages on both the banks of
the Prachi. In the compound of the Sobhanesvara
temple alone ten such images can be seen by
any visitor, which are called 'Madhaba' by the
people. The existence of so many Vishnu
temples near 'Kenduvilva' must have deeply
impressed the poet, who consequently became
a devotee of Vishnu. Secondly Jayadeva who
is said to be a follower of Nimbarka depicted
the Lila of Sri Radha and Sri Krishna in his
work and the influence of Jayadeva on the
people of this region is marked by the existence
of a lot of Vamsidhari Krishna images in
different villages of the Puri district which can
be assigned to a period ranging from 1200-
1350 A.D.
But the village 'Kenduli' or its
adjoining area in the district of Birbhum in
Bengal, which is claimed as the birth place of
Jayadeva, does not contain any antiquity which
can be placed before the 17th century. In this
connection the attention of the scholars is drawn
to the following remarks of late R.D. Banerjee.
"No image of Krishna by himself earlier than
the 15th century has been discovered anywhere
in Bengal or Bihar."14 The complete absence
of Krishna images in Bengal prior to the advent
of Sri Chaitanya may lead one to conclude that
Jayadeva did not belong to Bengal.
Thirdly in the Hindi 'Bhaktamala'
Nabhaji (C.16th century), Sanskrit Bhaktamala
by Chandra Dutta of Mithila,15 it is clearly
stated that Jayadeva belonged to a Brahmana
village near Puri; composed his Gitagovinda
at Puri where he used to recite it daily in the
Jagannatha temple with his wife Padmavati.
The very name of the work signifies
that it was a hymn to god Govinda, which was
meant to be sung before the God of his
aboration, and not in a court to gain the
patronate of any ruler.
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Orissa Review
July - 2003
Fourthly the first & second
commentaries of the Gitagovinda were written
in Orissa; the first known as 'Bhavavibhavini'
was written by poet Udayana Acharya (C.1220
A.D.) who is said to have been an intimate
friend of Jayadeva and the second called
'Sarvanga-sundari' was written by Kaviraja,
who adorned the court of Narasimha Deva III,
king of Utkala, rulling (1278-1307 A.D.). All
other commentaries that have been written on
Gitagovinda during the life time of its poet by
Udayana, also supports the theory that Jayadeva
belonged to the district of Puri.
Another important point which
deserves mention here is that only in the
Jagannath temple of Puri recitation of the
Gitagovinda before the deity, was introduced
as a daily 'seva' of the God, during the reign of
Narasimha II long before the advent of Sri
Chaitanya. Gajapati Purusottama Deva of
Orissa (1466-1496) tried to replace it by his
own work 'Abhinava Gitagovinda' composed
in C.1490 A.D. But due to the opposition of
the devotees of the God, recitation of the
Gitagovinda was again made compulsory by a
proclamation of Prataparudra Deva, recorded
in a stone inscription of the jagannatha temple.16
So the scholars are requested to examine the
question afresh, in the light of the facts stated
above, in order to ascertain the tenability of
my theory about Jayadeva's belonging to the
district of Puri.
The glorious period in the cultural
history of Puri begins from the time of
Anangabhima III (1211-1238 A.D.) who was
a great devotee of the God Purushottama and
ruled the empire in his name, "Sri Purushottama
samarajye" as recorded in his Lingaraja-temple
inscription.17 The period of renaissance in
Orissa which continued for more than three
centuries begins from his reign.
In the first part of his period there
flourished Sridhara Swami (1350-1450) who
is well known throughout India as the
commentator of the Bhagavata, Bhagavadgita,
'Visnu-purana' and other works. He was the
Svami or Spiritual head of the Govardhana
matha at Puri,18 where he wrote most of his
works. He was born in the village called
maraigaon near 'Remuna' a sacred place of the
Vaishnavas in the district of Balasore in Orissa.
There he led family life before he became a
sannyasi, and his descendants are still living
in that village. He spent some part of his
sannyasi life in the Sankarananda Matha of
Bhubaneswar also.
Another equally famous scholar, and
sannyasi was Anandagiri, who was also the
Mahanta of the Sankara matha at Puri. It is
clearly stated in his commentary on
'Nyaryaratna Dipvali' that he wrote this work
under the patronage of Narasimha Deva, king
of Kalinga e.g.
Kalingadesadhipatou Narendre
Bhubam Prasasatyamarendratulye
Nrusinghadebe Jagadeka Bire
Narottamekari Maya Nibandhah Tarka Vibeka.
Anandagiri who is generally assigned
to the thirteenth century may be taken as a
contemporary of either Narasimha Deva I
(1238-1264) or Narasimha Deva II (1279-
1306 A.D.) and lived at Puri, and not at
Dvaraka as asserted in the preface of
'Tarkasangraha' of Anandagiri.
In another work called Atmajnyanopadesha
Tika the manuscript of which is
preserved in the Sankara Matha at Puri,
Anandagiri prays to God Purushottama or
Jagannatha and his Guru Suddhananda.
Bidhuta Bibidhalamba Kalpanam Kalpana ...
ntananda Sandahe tam Bande Purosottamam.
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Orissa Review
Jasya Prasadamasadya Sa .. ti Bahabo Gatah.
Tamaham Pratyaha Bande Suddhanandaparam Gurum.
God Purushottama, is also refered to
in the last verse of this tika :
Samsara Garalabbamsi Sudhadharabhibarpini
Atmajnyananuga Tika Thikatam Purusottamam.
Iti Srimat Paramahamsa Paribrajakacharya
Suddhananda Pujyapadasisya Srimat
Paramahamsa Paribrajakacharyabhagabata
Nandagiri Krutabatmajnyanopadesa Tika Samapta.
This quotation made above suggests
that he wrote this work, while living in the
Sankara Matha at Puri.
In the same Matha is also preserved
Tripuri Tika by Anandagiri in which the
colophon quoted above is also found.
Anandagiri is a voracious writer on Vendanta.
Among his works the following :
Tripurari Bibarna, Upasadana Byakhya, Atmajnyana
Byakhya, Harimedebyakhya, Upadhikhandana
are also available.
In the period ranging from 1250 to 1550
A.D. the Dharmashastra literature was greatly
developed by the Smriti-writers of Orissa.19
Of these 'Samkhadhara' the author of 'Smriti-
Samuchchaya' who may tentatively be assigned
to the thirteenth century was the pioneer.
'Sambhukara Vajapeyi', an ardent Smriti-writer
of Orissa flourished during the reign of
Narasimbha II (1279-1305) A.D. His son
'vidyakara Vajapeyi' one of the greatest Smritiwriters
of India lived in the middle of the 14th
century.20 Only one part of his monumental
work "Nityachara Paddhati" has yet been
published while his other works are still found
in manuscripts in different parts of Orissa. He
was regarded as an authority by the later
Smriti-writers of Orissa. His disciple
'Ramachandra Vajapeyi' left Orissa and lived
in Naimisharanya, where he wrote a lot of
works on Smriti. Less renowned Smriti-writers
of this period were 'Kalidasa Chayani' author
of Suddhi Chandrika, 'Yogisvara Patra' C.1400-
1450 A.D. author of Dana Dipavali, 'Vipra
Misra' author of 'Achara Pradipa' and
'Visvanatha Mishra' author of 'Smriti-
Sarasamgraha,' which was a very popular work
in Orissa.
The greatest Smriti-writer of this
period was Narasimha Misra Vajapeyi, who
was patronised by Gajapati Mukunda Deva,
(1559-1568 A.D.) the last independent Hindu
Emperor of Orissa.21 He is reputed to have
written 18 works on Smriti, each ending which
the word 'Pradipa,' out of which the names of
the following ten are definitely known e.g.
Varsha-Pradipa, Prayascita-Pradipa. Sraddha-
Pradipa, Pratistha-Pradipa, Shabarabhashya-
Pradipa, Samaya-Pradipa, Bhakti-Pradipa,
Chayana-Pradipa, Vyabastha-Pradipa, &
Nityachara-Pradipa.
The family of Visvanatha Kaviraja
came to the forefront during the life time of
Kaviraja Naayana Dasa, who adorned the court
of Narasimha Deva II (1278-1307 A.D.). He
wrote the 'Sarvangasundari' tika on the
Gitagovinda. His grandson Chandi Dasa wrote
a commentary on the 'Kavyaprakasha' of
Mammata. Poet Chandrashekhara, father of
Visvanatha was the author of 'Pushpamala
Kavya' and 'Bhasharnava' in Prakrita.
Visvanatha had written 'Kuvalayasvacharitam',
'Chandrakala Natika', 'Prabhabatiparinaya
Nataka', 'Raghava-vilasa Mahakavya',
'Varasimhavijaya Kavya' and
'Prashastiratnavali' before he completed the
Sahitya Darpana during the reign of Gajapati
Nisanka Bhanu Deva (1407-1435 A.D.). His
son Ananta Dasa wrote the Lochana Tika on
Sahitya Darpana. Krishnananda Mahapatra
who belonged to the family of Visvanatha, was
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July - 2003
the author of 'Sahrudayananda Makhakavya.'
His name is found in the Puri plates of
Narasimha IV dated 23.11.1395 A.D.22 and he
is assigned to the last quarter of the 14th century.
Another family of scholars which
settled near Puri was that of Mantrivara
Rajaguru Godavara Misra. Of his ancestors,
one whose name is not known wrote of work
named 'Satsamaya.' Mrityunjaya Misra
complied 'Shuddhimuktavali', Narayana Misra
wrote two comentaries on the two Mimamsa,
Jaladevara Misra was the author of 'Jalesvara
Paddhati.' This family rose to prominence,
during the life time of Nrusimha Misra, who
was a justice under the famous Gajapati
Kapilesvara Deva (1435-1466 A.D.). He was
the author of two works named 'Samkshepa-
Sharirakavarttika' and 'Kasimimamsa'. His son
Balabhadra Misra was the Rajaguru of
Gajapatis Purushottama Deva and Prataparudra
Deva. He wrote two works named
'Advaitachintamani' and 'Sharirakasara
Purushottamastuti.' Godavara the son of
Balabhadra was a versatile scholar. He was
at first the Rajaguru of Prataparudra Deva from
1510 A.D. and then became his prime-minister
for some years. Of the many works written by
him, the names of the following are definitely
known e.g., Tantra-Chintamani,
Yogachintamani, Niti-chintamani,
Acharachintamani, Jayachintamani, Advaita
Darpana, Adhikarana Darpana, Niti-Kalpalata,
Patanjali Dipaka, Samudrika Kamadhenu,
Harihar-chaturanga & Saradarchana Paddhati.
Of these Yogachintamani was first noticed by
Dr. P.K. Gode23 and Harichara Chaturanga has
been published by the Government of Madras.
The last named work has been noticed by me.24
The history of the family of
'Kavidindima' Jivadeva Acharya has been
given by the poet himself in his unpublished
work 'Bhaktibhagabata Mahakavya'25 written
during the reign of Prataparudra Deva.
His two dramas 'Utsahavati' and
'Bhaktivarbhava'26 were staged in the
compound of the Jagannath temple, in the spring
season & on Dolayatra day respectively. His
son "Jayadeva" wrote two dramas named
Vaishnavamritam' and Piyushalahari27 which
were also staged in the Puri temple. His second
son Vardhamana Mahapatra, wrote Vardhamana
Karika (Grammar) and Durgotsava Chandrika.
The period of rule of the Suryavamsi
Gajapatis, lasting for about a century (1435-
1533 A.D.) was the golden age in the history
of Orissa, when Puri became the cultural centre
of the whole of Hindu India. Kapilesvara
Gajapati who was also a writer composed
'Parasuramavijaya natakam' which was staged
in the time of a festival of Jagannatha. The
authorship of the works like 'Abhinava
Venisamhara', 'Abhinava Gitagovinda,'
'Namamalika', 'Gopalapujapaddhati' is
attributed to Purushottam Deva, (1466-1496).
His court poet Kavichandra Raya Divakara
Mishra, who was the real author of Abhinava
Gitagovinda wrote some other works like
Bharatamrta Mahakavya, a 'Bhana' named
'Dhurtacharita', Rasamanjari, Parijataharana
Nataka, Devi Shataka, haricharita Champu.28
Other poets and scholars of the reign
of Prataparudra was Raya Ramananda, author
of 'Jagannatha ballava natakam', Markandeya
Kavichandra, author of 'Dasagrivabadha
Mahakavya' and Prakruta-sarvasva, kaviraja
Visvanatha Sena author of 'Chikitsarnava' and
Pathyapathya-vinischaya', Kanhai Khuntia
author of 'Mahabhava Prakasa', and Madhavi
Devi, author of 'Purushottama Deva natakam.'
Prataparudra who was a great lover of
learning extended his patronage to outside
scholars like Lolla lakshmidhar of the Andhra
24 July - 2003
Orissa Review
country, author of 'Sarasvati Vilasa', Vasudeva
Sarvabhauma of the Gouda country, author of
a commentary on 'Advaitamakaranda' and
Ramakrishna Bhatta of Kasi, who compiled
'Pratapa Martanda', and 'Tirtha Ratnakara' at
Puri.
Due to the stay of Sri Chaitanya of about
24 years (1509-1533) till his death at Puri,
most of the famous poets and scholars of
Bengal, flocked round the great master and
enriched the Sanskrit literature by their
contributions.
With the death of Prataparudra, there
was ebb in the fortune of Orissa which came
under the Muslim sway since 1568 A.D. and
Puri being repeatedly invaded by the Muslim
rulers of Bengal and Mughal army lost much
of its splendour and glory. Still it continued as
the cultural centre of Orissa till the advent of
the British in 1803.
Orissa Review
July - 2003
Jagannatha-Puri - which is simply called Puri
is well-known throughout India as a place of
pilgrimage from the days of yore.1 An attempt
has been made in this paper to
show how this place was also a
chief centre of learning in Orissa
through the ages.
In ancient India religion
and learning were very closely
inter-mingled and each Tirtha or
holy place was also a centre of
learning and culture. Puri was no
exception to this general rule.
Though Puri as a Tirtha first finds
mention in the Vanaparva of the
Mahabharata, and its sanctity and
glory are elaborately described in
the Kurma Purana, Narada Purana,
Padma Purana, and the Vishnu
Khanda of the Skanda Purana, still
its cultural history can be definitely traced from
the 7th century of the Christian era, when
Indrabhuti the founder of the Vajrayana sect of
Buddhism flourished in Oddiyana or Orissa.
Indrabhuti and his sister Lakshminkara, were
closely associated with this place, which was
then a centre of Vajrayana in Eastern India.
Indrabhuti begins his famous work
'Jnanasiddhi'2 after offering his prayer to
Jagannatha, the manifestation of the Buddha in
its Mangalacharana.
Pranipatya Jagannatha Sarbajinabararchitam.
Sarbabuddhamayam Siddhibyapinam Gaganopamam.
(First verse of Chapter I)
There are also
references to Jagannatha in
four other verses of this
work.3 The influence of the
writings of Indrabhuti, who
was an author of a lot of
books on Vajrayana, was so
great and deep-rooted in
this land of his birth that
traditions regarding the
Buddhist incarnation of
Jagannatha have been
current in Orissa for
centuries and found
expression in the Oriya
literature of the fifteenth,
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Next we come to the age of the great
Sankaracharya (788-820 A.D.) who in course
of his spiritual conquest of the whole of India,
stayed at Puri, which was well-known by his
time as a chief centre of religion and culture,
and founded one of his four Pithas called
'Goavardhana Pitha' here which has remained
in existence till today. Sri Padmapadacharya,
one of his four disciples, who was also a
Nambudiri Brahmana like his Guru was placed
Jagannatha Puri as a Centre of Culture
Through the Ages
Kedar Nath Mahapatra
18 July - 2003
Orissa Review
as the first Jagatguru or spiritual head of this
Pitha. According to tradition Sankara defeated
the Buddist Pandits of this place by his vast
learning and irrefutable arguments, converted
most of them to his own faith and proclaimed
Jagannatha Buddha as identical with the great
Brahmanical god Purushottama of the Gita.
This peaceful process of assimilation of a great
Buddhist deity into the patheon of Brahmanism,
strengthened its influence at Jagannatha-Puri,
which was a strong centre of Buddhism before
his days. In commemoration of this great event,
the images of Sri Sankara and Sri Padmapada
were installed on the Ratnasimhasana of
Jagannatha for worship. It is known from
Madalapanji, the chronicle of the Jagannatha
temple written in Oriya language that their
images were removed from that place during
the reign of Divyasimha Deva II (1793-1798)
Raja of Puri.4
Establishment of a Pitha by Sankara at
Jagannatha-Puri forms a landmark in the history
of Orissa, as it was followed by the revival of
Sanskrit learning and literature in this area. In
this age of revival just after a few years of
Sankara's visit to Puri, we find that the famous
drama 'Anargha Raghava Natakam' by Murari
was staged at Puri before an audience of
learned people at the time of a festival (Yatra)
of god Purushottama, the consort of Kamala,
who was being worshipped in the Tamala
forest on the sea shore, as will be evident from
the speech of the Sutradhara quoted below :
Nandyate Sutradharah. - Alamati Bistarena. Bho Bho
Labanoda-bela-banali - Tamalataru - kandalasya
Tribhuvana - moulimandana - mahanilamaneh
kamalakucha - kalasakole - kasturikapatrankurasya
Bhagabatah Purusottamasya Jatraya Mapasthaniya
Sabhasadah.
In this connection it may be stated that
all the three dramas of Bhavabhuti namely
Malati madhava, Mahavira Charita and Uttara
Rama-Charita were staged in festival times of
god Kalapriya Natha, who has rightly been
identified with the Siva of that name, whose
temple existed in Kanyakubja, the capital of
his patron Yasovarman.6 Similarly Murari who
wrote Anargha Raghava in imitation of
'Mahavira Charita' of Bhavabhuti, got it
performed at the time of the Car festival of
god Purushottama or Jagannatha, who must
have been the family-deity of his royal patron,
whose name remains yet to be traced.
Nothing definite is known about the
cultural history of Puri for a period of two
hundred years after Murari (850-1050) except
the description of the temple of Purushottama-
Jagannatha in the "Probadha Chandrodaya
Natakam"7 of Krishna Mishra (1050-1070) who
is traditionally assigned to Orissa, but definite
evidence is still lacking to prove the truth of
this tradition.
The darkness that shrouds the cultural
history of this place for a period of two
hundred years suddenly disappears, when we
come to Satananda, the famous astronomer,
who clearly states in the last verses of his
known and published work 'Bhasvati' that he
belonged to Purushottama, Purusottamasya was
the some of Samkara and Sarasvati and finished
his work in the Kaliyuga year 4200 or 1099
A.D. Another work on astronomy by Satanada
called 'Ratnamala' which is not yet published,
begins with benediction to Purushottama
Tasmei Namah Sri Purusottamaya,8 It is
referred to by famous Smriti writers of Orissa
like Vidyakara Vajapeyi, Narasimha Vajapeyi
and Visvanatha Misra as Ratnamalayam or
Satanandarathamalayam. The manuscripts of
this work are found in different parts of Orissa.
It may be noted here that Satananda who lived
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in Puri is said by his commentator to have based
his calculation on the meridian of his native
city.9
The construction of the present
Jagannatha temple in place of the small old
dilapidated temple, some time after the
conquest and annexation of Orissa by
Cholaganga Deva in 1112 A.D. was an epochmaking
event in the history of Orissa. From
this time Orissa steadily became a very
powerful state, and it could not only retain its
independence and power, when the whole of
Northern India came under the Muslim
subjugation by 1200 A.D. but the invading
Muslim army of Bengal was repeatedly
defeated by its military strength.
From the Chatesvar inscription, it is
known that there was great revival of Hindu
religion and Sanskrit literature during the reign
of Anangabhima Deva III (1211-1238) by
whose efforts recensions of Puranas were
made and Vedic literature was properly
studied.10 It was during the reign of Cholaganga
Deva over the whole of Utkal (1112-1147) that
Sri Ramanuja in course of his Journey from
Melukote to Delhi and back between 1107 to
1117 A.D. visited and stayed at Puri for some
time. The effect of his visit was the change of
religious faith of Cholaganga Deva who
became a 'Parama Vaishnava' since 1112 A.D.,
though he at first as well as his fore-fathers
were 'Parama Mahesvara' for about 600 years
in commemoration of his visit to Puri, Sri
Ramanuja established a Matha there, which
still goes by his name. His disciple Govinda
established the 'Emar Matha' at Puri, which is
the greatest Matha in Orissa at present. It may
be noted here that the Oriya word 'Emar' is the
shortened form of the original Tamil word 'Emperu-
man-ar'. The existence of the Alvarnatha
Temple 16 miles to the south of Puri and a
village named Alwarpur (Oriya Alarpur) three
miles to the east of Bhubaneswar are also
reminiscent of the visit of Ramanuja, the last
of Alwars to Puri.
Vishnu Svami, another famous
Vaishnava preacher of Southern India, also
visited Puri in the second half of the twelfth
century and established a Matha here near the
markandesvara tank which is still called
'Vishnusvami Matha' after his name. There are
also two other small Mathas of his sect in this
sacred place. Nimbarka, another Vaishnava
reformer of the South also came to Puri to
establish Mathas of his religious faith here. Of
the five Mathas of this sect at Puri, the 'Radhaballava
Matha' standing just to the east of the
Lion's Gate of the Jagannatha temple is noteworthy.
Madhava Acharya or Ananda Tirtha,
the last of the four famous Vaishnava reformers
of Southern India also visited Puri in the last
part of the twelfth century. A lot of epigraphic
records about the activities of his famous
disciple Narahari Tirtha are still found in the
Srikurma and Simhachala temples.11 The
coming of these four famous reformers of the
South to Puri within a century (circa 1112-1212
A.D.) greatly stimulated the cultural activities
of this holy place.
Research on this period of the history
of Orissa has proved that Govardhana
Acharya, the author of "Arya Saptasati"
flourished near about Puri. The fact that he is
mentioned in the 'Gitagovinda' of Jayadeva
along with Umapati Dhara, Sarana and Dhoyi,
the three great poets of Bengal, does not prove
either he belonged to Bengal, or he adorned
the court of Lakshmana Sena. On the contrary,
there is definite proof that the poet Udayana,
20 July - 2003
Orissa Review
the younger brother of Gobardhana Acharya
mentioned in the last part of Saptasati belonged
to the district of Puri as the two inscriptions
belonging to the Meghesvara temple of
Bhubaneswar12 and the Sobhanesvara temple
in the Brahmin village Niali, on the famous
Prachi river of the Puri district13 were
composed by poet Udayana. By these two
records it is proved that he was patronised by
the vassals of the Ganga Emperors, Rajaraja
Deva II (1170-1190 A.D.) and Anangabhima
Deva II (1191-1198 A.D.). So Udayana lived
in the Puri district in the last quarter of the
twelfth century. So the tradition stating that
Gobardhana lived in the Jagannatha Puri is
supported by two contemporary epigraphic
records referred to above.
The very names 'Gobardhana' and
'Balabhadra' (his younger brother) most
probably indicate their association with Puri,
where 'Gobardhana Matha' is one of the oldest
living institutions, and Balabhadra a greatest
deity of the locality.
Similarly many eminent scholars are of
opinion that the great poet Jayadeva, author of
the 'Gitagovinda' belonged to Bengal and
adorned the court of Laksmana Sena as he
mentions the names of three poets of Bengal
named above in his work. But I beg to point
out that none of these two theories seems
tenable in view of the few facts stated below.
The village 'Kenduvilva' unanimously
accepted to have been the birth place of
Jayadeva can satisfactorily be identified with
the present Kenduli Shasana (Brahmin village)
on the river Prachi in the district of Puri. One
will simply be astonished to find a large
number of four-armed Vishnu images belonging
to a period from (circa 800-1200 A.D.) in
every important villages on both the banks of
the Prachi. In the compound of the Sobhanesvara
temple alone ten such images can be seen by
any visitor, which are called 'Madhaba' by the
people. The existence of so many Vishnu
temples near 'Kenduvilva' must have deeply
impressed the poet, who consequently became
a devotee of Vishnu. Secondly Jayadeva who
is said to be a follower of Nimbarka depicted
the Lila of Sri Radha and Sri Krishna in his
work and the influence of Jayadeva on the
people of this region is marked by the existence
of a lot of Vamsidhari Krishna images in
different villages of the Puri district which can
be assigned to a period ranging from 1200-
1350 A.D.
But the village 'Kenduli' or its
adjoining area in the district of Birbhum in
Bengal, which is claimed as the birth place of
Jayadeva, does not contain any antiquity which
can be placed before the 17th century. In this
connection the attention of the scholars is drawn
to the following remarks of late R.D. Banerjee.
"No image of Krishna by himself earlier than
the 15th century has been discovered anywhere
in Bengal or Bihar."14 The complete absence
of Krishna images in Bengal prior to the advent
of Sri Chaitanya may lead one to conclude that
Jayadeva did not belong to Bengal.
Thirdly in the Hindi 'Bhaktamala'
Nabhaji (C.16th century), Sanskrit Bhaktamala
by Chandra Dutta of Mithila,15 it is clearly
stated that Jayadeva belonged to a Brahmana
village near Puri; composed his Gitagovinda
at Puri where he used to recite it daily in the
Jagannatha temple with his wife Padmavati.
The very name of the work signifies
that it was a hymn to god Govinda, which was
meant to be sung before the God of his
aboration, and not in a court to gain the
patronate of any ruler.
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Fourthly the first & second
commentaries of the Gitagovinda were written
in Orissa; the first known as 'Bhavavibhavini'
was written by poet Udayana Acharya (C.1220
A.D.) who is said to have been an intimate
friend of Jayadeva and the second called
'Sarvanga-sundari' was written by Kaviraja,
who adorned the court of Narasimha Deva III,
king of Utkala, rulling (1278-1307 A.D.). All
other commentaries that have been written on
Gitagovinda during the life time of its poet by
Udayana, also supports the theory that Jayadeva
belonged to the district of Puri.
Another important point which
deserves mention here is that only in the
Jagannath temple of Puri recitation of the
Gitagovinda before the deity, was introduced
as a daily 'seva' of the God, during the reign of
Narasimha II long before the advent of Sri
Chaitanya. Gajapati Purusottama Deva of
Orissa (1466-1496) tried to replace it by his
own work 'Abhinava Gitagovinda' composed
in C.1490 A.D. But due to the opposition of
the devotees of the God, recitation of the
Gitagovinda was again made compulsory by a
proclamation of Prataparudra Deva, recorded
in a stone inscription of the jagannatha temple.16
So the scholars are requested to examine the
question afresh, in the light of the facts stated
above, in order to ascertain the tenability of
my theory about Jayadeva's belonging to the
district of Puri.
The glorious period in the cultural
history of Puri begins from the time of
Anangabhima III (1211-1238 A.D.) who was
a great devotee of the God Purushottama and
ruled the empire in his name, "Sri Purushottama
samarajye" as recorded in his Lingaraja-temple
inscription.17 The period of renaissance in
Orissa which continued for more than three
centuries begins from his reign.
In the first part of his period there
flourished Sridhara Swami (1350-1450) who
is well known throughout India as the
commentator of the Bhagavata, Bhagavadgita,
'Visnu-purana' and other works. He was the
Svami or Spiritual head of the Govardhana
matha at Puri,18 where he wrote most of his
works. He was born in the village called
maraigaon near 'Remuna' a sacred place of the
Vaishnavas in the district of Balasore in Orissa.
There he led family life before he became a
sannyasi, and his descendants are still living
in that village. He spent some part of his
sannyasi life in the Sankarananda Matha of
Bhubaneswar also.
Another equally famous scholar, and
sannyasi was Anandagiri, who was also the
Mahanta of the Sankara matha at Puri. It is
clearly stated in his commentary on
'Nyaryaratna Dipvali' that he wrote this work
under the patronage of Narasimha Deva, king
of Kalinga e.g.
Kalingadesadhipatou Narendre
Bhubam Prasasatyamarendratulye
Nrusinghadebe Jagadeka Bire
Narottamekari Maya Nibandhah Tarka Vibeka.
Anandagiri who is generally assigned
to the thirteenth century may be taken as a
contemporary of either Narasimha Deva I
(1238-1264) or Narasimha Deva II (1279-
1306 A.D.) and lived at Puri, and not at
Dvaraka as asserted in the preface of
'Tarkasangraha' of Anandagiri.
In another work called Atmajnyanopadesha
Tika the manuscript of which is
preserved in the Sankara Matha at Puri,
Anandagiri prays to God Purushottama or
Jagannatha and his Guru Suddhananda.
Bidhuta Bibidhalamba Kalpanam Kalpana ...
ntananda Sandahe tam Bande Purosottamam.
22 July - 2003
Orissa Review
Jasya Prasadamasadya Sa .. ti Bahabo Gatah.
Tamaham Pratyaha Bande Suddhanandaparam Gurum.
God Purushottama, is also refered to
in the last verse of this tika :
Samsara Garalabbamsi Sudhadharabhibarpini
Atmajnyananuga Tika Thikatam Purusottamam.
Iti Srimat Paramahamsa Paribrajakacharya
Suddhananda Pujyapadasisya Srimat
Paramahamsa Paribrajakacharyabhagabata
Nandagiri Krutabatmajnyanopadesa Tika Samapta.
This quotation made above suggests
that he wrote this work, while living in the
Sankara Matha at Puri.
In the same Matha is also preserved
Tripuri Tika by Anandagiri in which the
colophon quoted above is also found.
Anandagiri is a voracious writer on Vendanta.
Among his works the following :
Tripurari Bibarna, Upasadana Byakhya, Atmajnyana
Byakhya, Harimedebyakhya, Upadhikhandana
are also available.
In the period ranging from 1250 to 1550
A.D. the Dharmashastra literature was greatly
developed by the Smriti-writers of Orissa.19
Of these 'Samkhadhara' the author of 'Smriti-
Samuchchaya' who may tentatively be assigned
to the thirteenth century was the pioneer.
'Sambhukara Vajapeyi', an ardent Smriti-writer
of Orissa flourished during the reign of
Narasimbha II (1279-1305) A.D. His son
'vidyakara Vajapeyi' one of the greatest Smritiwriters
of India lived in the middle of the 14th
century.20 Only one part of his monumental
work "Nityachara Paddhati" has yet been
published while his other works are still found
in manuscripts in different parts of Orissa. He
was regarded as an authority by the later
Smriti-writers of Orissa. His disciple
'Ramachandra Vajapeyi' left Orissa and lived
in Naimisharanya, where he wrote a lot of
works on Smriti. Less renowned Smriti-writers
of this period were 'Kalidasa Chayani' author
of Suddhi Chandrika, 'Yogisvara Patra' C.1400-
1450 A.D. author of Dana Dipavali, 'Vipra
Misra' author of 'Achara Pradipa' and
'Visvanatha Mishra' author of 'Smriti-
Sarasamgraha,' which was a very popular work
in Orissa.
The greatest Smriti-writer of this
period was Narasimha Misra Vajapeyi, who
was patronised by Gajapati Mukunda Deva,
(1559-1568 A.D.) the last independent Hindu
Emperor of Orissa.21 He is reputed to have
written 18 works on Smriti, each ending which
the word 'Pradipa,' out of which the names of
the following ten are definitely known e.g.
Varsha-Pradipa, Prayascita-Pradipa. Sraddha-
Pradipa, Pratistha-Pradipa, Shabarabhashya-
Pradipa, Samaya-Pradipa, Bhakti-Pradipa,
Chayana-Pradipa, Vyabastha-Pradipa, &
Nityachara-Pradipa.
The family of Visvanatha Kaviraja
came to the forefront during the life time of
Kaviraja Naayana Dasa, who adorned the court
of Narasimha Deva II (1278-1307 A.D.). He
wrote the 'Sarvangasundari' tika on the
Gitagovinda. His grandson Chandi Dasa wrote
a commentary on the 'Kavyaprakasha' of
Mammata. Poet Chandrashekhara, father of
Visvanatha was the author of 'Pushpamala
Kavya' and 'Bhasharnava' in Prakrita.
Visvanatha had written 'Kuvalayasvacharitam',
'Chandrakala Natika', 'Prabhabatiparinaya
Nataka', 'Raghava-vilasa Mahakavya',
'Varasimhavijaya Kavya' and
'Prashastiratnavali' before he completed the
Sahitya Darpana during the reign of Gajapati
Nisanka Bhanu Deva (1407-1435 A.D.). His
son Ananta Dasa wrote the Lochana Tika on
Sahitya Darpana. Krishnananda Mahapatra
who belonged to the family of Visvanatha, was
23
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July - 2003
the author of 'Sahrudayananda Makhakavya.'
His name is found in the Puri plates of
Narasimha IV dated 23.11.1395 A.D.22 and he
is assigned to the last quarter of the 14th century.
Another family of scholars which
settled near Puri was that of Mantrivara
Rajaguru Godavara Misra. Of his ancestors,
one whose name is not known wrote of work
named 'Satsamaya.' Mrityunjaya Misra
complied 'Shuddhimuktavali', Narayana Misra
wrote two comentaries on the two Mimamsa,
Jaladevara Misra was the author of 'Jalesvara
Paddhati.' This family rose to prominence,
during the life time of Nrusimha Misra, who
was a justice under the famous Gajapati
Kapilesvara Deva (1435-1466 A.D.). He was
the author of two works named 'Samkshepa-
Sharirakavarttika' and 'Kasimimamsa'. His son
Balabhadra Misra was the Rajaguru of
Gajapatis Purushottama Deva and Prataparudra
Deva. He wrote two works named
'Advaitachintamani' and 'Sharirakasara
Purushottamastuti.' Godavara the son of
Balabhadra was a versatile scholar. He was
at first the Rajaguru of Prataparudra Deva from
1510 A.D. and then became his prime-minister
for some years. Of the many works written by
him, the names of the following are definitely
known e.g., Tantra-Chintamani,
Yogachintamani, Niti-chintamani,
Acharachintamani, Jayachintamani, Advaita
Darpana, Adhikarana Darpana, Niti-Kalpalata,
Patanjali Dipaka, Samudrika Kamadhenu,
Harihar-chaturanga & Saradarchana Paddhati.
Of these Yogachintamani was first noticed by
Dr. P.K. Gode23 and Harichara Chaturanga has
been published by the Government of Madras.
The last named work has been noticed by me.24
The history of the family of
'Kavidindima' Jivadeva Acharya has been
given by the poet himself in his unpublished
work 'Bhaktibhagabata Mahakavya'25 written
during the reign of Prataparudra Deva.
His two dramas 'Utsahavati' and
'Bhaktivarbhava'26 were staged in the
compound of the Jagannath temple, in the spring
season & on Dolayatra day respectively. His
son "Jayadeva" wrote two dramas named
Vaishnavamritam' and Piyushalahari27 which
were also staged in the Puri temple. His second
son Vardhamana Mahapatra, wrote Vardhamana
Karika (Grammar) and Durgotsava Chandrika.
The period of rule of the Suryavamsi
Gajapatis, lasting for about a century (1435-
1533 A.D.) was the golden age in the history
of Orissa, when Puri became the cultural centre
of the whole of Hindu India. Kapilesvara
Gajapati who was also a writer composed
'Parasuramavijaya natakam' which was staged
in the time of a festival of Jagannatha. The
authorship of the works like 'Abhinava
Venisamhara', 'Abhinava Gitagovinda,'
'Namamalika', 'Gopalapujapaddhati' is
attributed to Purushottam Deva, (1466-1496).
His court poet Kavichandra Raya Divakara
Mishra, who was the real author of Abhinava
Gitagovinda wrote some other works like
Bharatamrta Mahakavya, a 'Bhana' named
'Dhurtacharita', Rasamanjari, Parijataharana
Nataka, Devi Shataka, haricharita Champu.28
Other poets and scholars of the reign
of Prataparudra was Raya Ramananda, author
of 'Jagannatha ballava natakam', Markandeya
Kavichandra, author of 'Dasagrivabadha
Mahakavya' and Prakruta-sarvasva, kaviraja
Visvanatha Sena author of 'Chikitsarnava' and
Pathyapathya-vinischaya', Kanhai Khuntia
author of 'Mahabhava Prakasa', and Madhavi
Devi, author of 'Purushottama Deva natakam.'
Prataparudra who was a great lover of
learning extended his patronage to outside
scholars like Lolla lakshmidhar of the Andhra
24 July - 2003
Orissa Review
country, author of 'Sarasvati Vilasa', Vasudeva
Sarvabhauma of the Gouda country, author of
a commentary on 'Advaitamakaranda' and
Ramakrishna Bhatta of Kasi, who compiled
'Pratapa Martanda', and 'Tirtha Ratnakara' at
Puri.
Due to the stay of Sri Chaitanya of about
24 years (1509-1533) till his death at Puri,
most of the famous poets and scholars of
Bengal, flocked round the great master and
enriched the Sanskrit literature by their
contributions.
With the death of Prataparudra, there
was ebb in the fortune of Orissa which came
under the Muslim sway since 1568 A.D. and
Puri being repeatedly invaded by the Muslim
rulers of Bengal and Mughal army lost much
of its splendour and glory. Still it continued as
the cultural centre of Orissa till the advent of
the British in 1803.
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