Chaturddha Murati

At the heart of Sri Mandir are four sacred forms: Sri Jagannath, Sri Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Sri Sudarshan. Together they are known as the Chaturddha Murati—the fourfold manifestation worshipped upon the Ratna Singhasana in the sanctum of Sri Mandir.

To the unfamiliar eye, the most immediately recognisable forms are often the three great wooden deities: Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra. Yet the sacred configuration is not complete without Sri Sudarshan, whose distinctive form stands alongside them. The familiar triad is therefore encountered within a larger fourfold presence.

These forms are unlike the conventional anthropomorphic images found throughout much of Hindu temple tradition. Their appearance, material form and ritual life belong to the distinctive tradition of Sri Kshetra, Puri. Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra possess their extraordinary characteristic forms, while Sudarshan is represented differently again. Together they constitute a sacred configuration inseparable from the ritual world of Sri Mandir.

The four principal forms are fashioned from sacred daru—wood—and their material embodiment is not regarded as permanently fixed. At prescribed intervals associated with Navakalevara, new sacred forms are fashioned and the old forms relinquished through one of Sri Mandir's most profound ritual processes. This extraordinary relationship between permanence and renewal is one of the defining mysteries of Jagannath tradition.

Jagannath Patrika therefore begins its introduction to Sri Jagannath not with Jagannath in isolation, but with the Chaturddha Murati in whose company he resides and is worshipped: Sri Jagannath, Sri Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Sri Sudarshan.

Sri Jagannath

Jagannath—Lord of the Universe—is the presiding Lord of Sri Kshetra and the heart of the sacred world of Puri. Through the centuries he has also been known as Purushottama, a name deeply connected with both the Lord and the Kshetra that became his celebrated abode. His distinctive Daru form, worship upon the Ratna Singhasana and extraordinary ritual life make the tradition of Sri Jagannath unlike any other.

Yet Jagannath has never been easily contained within a single description. Vaishnava traditions recognise Vishnu and Krishna in him; other Hindu traditions have encountered their own theological understandings within Jagannath; and Odisha's history records engagement with Buddhist, Jain and other religious currents. Rather than diminishing his identity, this remarkable convergence has contributed to the enduring understanding of Jagannath as a universal Lord—one whose presence has gathered different communities, philosophies and forms of devotion around Sri Kshetra across centuries.

For Puri, however, Jagannath is not merely a theological proposition to be solved. He is the living Lord of Sri Mandir: served through an immense hereditary Sevayat tradition, awakened, adorned, offered food, celebrated through festivals, carried from the temple during great journeys, and periodically embodied anew through the profound mystery of Navakalevara. His world is one of leela, seva, ritual, history and living memory—and no introductory page could hope to contain it.

Jagannath Patrika is an invitation into that world.

Subscribe and journey with us through the glories of Sri Mandir and the leelas, heritage, rituals and festivals of Puri Dham—one day at a time, one Sri Katha at a time.