India on large is known for being the place where numerous religions, races, languages and traditions co-exist in harmony and peace. And this attribute is perfectly reflected all over India, including Puri. There is no doubt that Puri is majorly a Hindu pilgrimage site, but along with that it attracts people hailing from various religions. It is one of the best places marking the ‘unity in diversity’ and though the Shree Temple and other Hindu Temples are the major attractions, The Buddhist Temple of Puri also makes one of the jewels of the city.
Buddhism has been part of Odisha and its culture from the very beginning of its establishment. The various sites like Udaygiri and Khandagiri, Dhauligiri and others testify the presence of Buddhism in Odisha and its prominence as well. While all these sites signify the position enjoyed by the Buddhism in Odisha from ages, the Buddhist Temple of Puri, situated at Station Road indicate the harmonious amalgamation of two distinct religions as the temple is visited almost by every traveller visiting Puri.
The interesting part to note here is that Lord Jagannath enjoys equivalent position in Buddhism as in Hinduism. Many people might be ignorant about the fact that there are tales of Buddhist origin of Lord Jagannath. This theory relies on the circumstantial evidences. For example, presence of unexamined relic in the Jagannath shrine in Puri, which as per many local legends is believed to contain tooth of Lord Buddha. This theory somewhat matches to theory existing in Vaishnav religion, who believe that shrine has the ashes of Lord Krishna. Preserving skeletal part or relics of dead is a thriving tradition in Buddhism.
Another circumstantial evidence linking the deity to Buddhism is the world famous Rath Yatra, in which we can witness the stupa-like shape of the temple and a dharmachakra-like discus (chakra) at the top of the spire. There are many features of Rath Yatra that are common to Mahayana Buddhism.
Apart from this Buddha is also believed to be among the Dasavataras and Jagannath is identified as Buddha that is the 9th avatar of Vishnu. Gita Govind too has descriptions referring Buddha as one of the 10 avatars of Vishnu.
A more interesting fact regarding the theory lies in Nepal, where Buddha is worshipped as Jagannath.
Well, to what extent these theories and circumstantial evidences can be taken into considerations can be an altogether a different point. But what remains as an undeniable fact is that Puri is the city where all religions thrive together exhibiting the secular colours of India and doors and steps of Shree Temple and Lord Jagannath never discriminated their devotees on the basis of caste, colour, gender or religion, signifying that Lord belong to those who love him.
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