He truly is not the He:

July 4/2011: The Rath Yatra this year went off smoothly. Chariots started out, more or less on time. Most newspapers and their Sunday editions carried stories on the festival. The uniqueness of this festival is that these are probably the only deities who deign to leave their protected abodes to make themselves visible and available for all and sundry. Many from near and far think that it is great fun to break this ‘for Hindoos only’ taboo. Others think that this kind of foolhardiness is pointless. An opinion that does make some sense is that the founders of Hindooism as a religion were probably scared of bigots creeping in at later stages. That may have been a reason for them to make the few temples of any importance that existed in those eras to be kept out of bounds to non Hindoos. It is possible that they might have thought that a convert could be lured, coerced or confused. Changing one’s religion might have been an idea alien to the Hindoo of that time. Unlike Islam or Christianity, two major religions that have, from their beginning, always considered increasing their flock as a pine responsibility that would emancipate the one who makes the infidels to convert, Hindoos set up an official system that discouraged conversion. It is difficult to generalize all Hindoos for sure but the Jagannath cult does surely stand out as one such stream that was clearly anti conversion.

It is not just one Salbeg who needs to be glorified to show off the Universality of this deity, it is the very thought of not allowing non Hindoos into the Temple that has to be understood to appreciate the magnanimity of the philosophy of Jagannath cult. The modern man may cry foul yet the only way to discourage zealots from going out to find and convert ‘infidels’ is by ensuring that if someone did get into that mind set, that joker would be proved wrong. How to prove such a person wrong is a difficult task. Religious zealots are a crazy and scary lot. So, probably, debarring entry of converts into major temples might have been a method of conveying an idea. That, if you convert, just because someone has convinced you to do so and yet that person is incapable of presenting you to his Almighty, than you had better think twice. Maybe it is not such a great idea in dumping your original religion and embracing something else at the behest of someone who cannot even manage to get you the blessings or benefits of the new set up. In ages past, the King’s religion was the official line of faith. Religions are known to have blossomed and flourished only when blessed by the State. A great example is that of Buddhism. It crossed the boundaries of modern day north Bihar and Nepal to become a global philosophy only when Emperor Asoka adopted it as his personal religion after the Kalinga war. His kingdom’s suppressed tax payers must have paid for trips made by his relatives and associates to exotic Sri Lanka, Japan, China and, of course, not to forget Orissa’s very own Pohang Korea (there was no North-South pide then).

When the Pope visited India in November 1999, he very clearly had stated that for the Catholic Church Asia was the target for proselytization in the 21st century. By this he meant that his God was the Only One who could free humans from shackles of sin so the poor and undernourished of this vast and populated continent would, by hook or crook, be converted to believe what the Vatican thought was the “Right” path. Imagine the sheer absurdity of such a thought! What is more frightful is that the apex authority of the Vatican establishment had the temerity to spell out the mal intention so publicly and all of us in this country took it silently in our stride. The moot point of mentioning this utterance is that an evil idea such as conversion should find no official sanction in any religion. Yet that very thought is extremely acceptable and appreciated by most religions of the world. It is not for us imbeciles to delve into greater philosophies that have guided and charted out the course of history for humankind. This was mentioned with a singular narrow idea of why, those who are not born Hindoos, are banned from entering the Jagannath Temple at Puri. Thinking under the light of this lamp, maybe the purpose was well served because history does not really tell us of any zealot who ever went out to fight for and convert people into believing that Jagannath was the tallest of the Gods known to mankind. Or alternatively, it may be argued justifiably by non believers that He truly is not the He.