Orissa villagers bind Lord Jagannath in chains

Haunted by the fear that God would leave their village for good, residents of a remote village in Orissa have put Lord Jagannath in chains. Such superstition comes at a time when we are vying to conquer the moon and the other planets

CJ: PVV Satyanarayana

Mon, Mar 02, 2009 17:59:36 IST

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Believe It Or Not :

SINCE THE Stone Age, man has come a long way, especially in his superstitions – though he is not fully out of it. Today, what with the advent of science and technology, he no longer blindly accepts anything on the face of it and demands adequate proof to subscribe to his belief/idea. The exception, of course, is the never-ending faith in Babas (and their miracles), who mushroom in every nook and corner these days.

On the one hand, we are vying to conquer the moon and the other planets – and on the other, we are still nurturing many a superstitions. What a contrast!

When we talk of blind faith on Babas in our country, we should not overlook the Western society for its superstitious belief in ghosts and the supernatural beings, which is more pronounced in their literature and films. It is a well-known fact that even today, the Americans firmly believe that the ghost of Abraham Lincoln haunts the library of the White House!

However, the more amusing (if not, surprising) and classical revelation of our revisiting the Stone-Age era is hilariously provided by a tiny village in Orissa, if the news item (reproduced below) appearing in Deccan Chronicle of Nov 5, 2008, is to be believed.

“Haunted by the fear that God would leave their village for good, residents of a remote village in the coastal district of Orissa have put Lord Jagannath in chains. In the Jagannath temple at riverside Kakatpur, the idol is tied with iron chains to the rear portion of the citadel.”

This leaves one awe-struck at the ‘simplicity (or, gullibility?), if not, superstition of these village-folk. And this raises an interesting question …when captured, man looks to God to save him – but if the God Himself were to be in shackles, who could come to his rescue, one could not help musing!

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