another explanation is, that they received their fantastic appearance to frighten men from evil. There is also a curious legend, that when Indradyumna got the log, Viswakarma, the architect of the gods, a Hindu Hephaistos, appeared, and offered to carve the figures in fourteen days, during which he was to be locked up in the temple, and no one was to disturb him till the task was accomplished. The impatience of the king was too great, so before the appointed time he caused the doors to be opened. Viswakarma had gone, and nothing was found but the grotesque images, which, according to this story, are in an unfinished state, the sculptor having disappeared before the hands and feet had been made. Brahma made the god famous by

BALARAMA, BROTHER OF JAGANNATHA.

officiating at the consecration, and endowing it with a soul, at the same time giving it eyes with which to see.

It was in General Cunningham's work on the Bhilsa Topes, published in 1854, the suggestion first appeared that the image of Jagannatha was only a modification of the Buddhist Trisula. This symbol appears in a variety of forms, and may be described as a trident. It is a Brahminical as well as a Buddhist symbol. The majority of the temples dedicated to the worship of Siva are surmounted by it. Siva, as well as his consort Parbutty, may be recognised in sculptures by having in their hands a rod, on the end of which is this trident, the symbol in this form being identical with

that given in the representations of Britannia, Neptune,' and 'The Old Gentleman.' In the Brahminical instances just given this instrument is understood to be a kind of sceptre, which suggests a very probable explanation of it in the hands of Neptune, Britannia, as well as the other individual above alluded to. Even the royal sceptre of European monarchs, the top of which seems to have been copied from a fleur de lis, bears a remarkable resemblance to the

trisula of Maha Deo; and the thunder-ball of Zeus on ancient coins is a trisula, which in shape is very similar to one of the forms of the Buddhist Vadjra, or sceptre, used at the present day by the Lamas of Tibet in their ritual. In a late article on the origin of the Prince of Wales's feathers, which appeared in Fraser,' I pointed out that a trisula, or trident, was one of the oldest and most universal of symbols. It is found in one shape or another all over the ancient world, and it is still to be seen in use at the present day. I doubt if the Swastica, or fylfot cross, had even a wider sphere of existence. lieve that the celebrated which was over the gate of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi was this emblem; and the three fingers held up in the episcopal benediction is so suspiciously near it in form, that we may suppose it is not quite unconnected in origin with this widespread symbol. General Cunningham's identification of Jagannatha with it, which seems to have been accepted by archæologists, becomes in itself a strong evidence of its importance; and, if the theory should be maintained by further knowledge and criticism, it will certainly be a most interesting point in relation to symbolism, as well as to comparative mythology. The use of feathers as personal ornaments, or as a distinctive cognisance, is old, and natural to the uncivilised man; this I alluded to in my article on the triple plume of the Prince of Wales. The particular arrangement of the

TRISULA, FROM THE GATEWAY OF THE SANCHI
TOPE.

I be

Eî,' 2

The three-barbed trident which the Telchines wrought for him.' Callimachus, Hymn to Delos, 31.

2 According to Plutarch this was the letter E. See his Essay on the word Eî, engraved over the gate of Apollo's Temple at Delphi.' This, with the trisula over the gateways of Buddhist shrines, is a most interesting point of identity. Plutarch states that the letter E, being the fifth letter in the alphabet, represented the number five. General Cunningham, Bhilsah Topes, p. 355, shows that the trisula can be reduced to five old Pali letters, which are the initials of the five elements forming concrete nature, or Dharma.

feathers in this case may have been imitated from the fleur de lis. Now, the fleur de lis is an emblem whose origin is not very clear. There is more than one popular explanation of it; but the French archæologists, if I understand right, say that it first appeared in Europe after the Crusades, thus making its Eastern origin highly probable. One point regarding it is much more certain, that is, that the early form of this symbol differs considerably from the later one. When it first appeared, and for centuries afterwards, the shape was that of a trisula, the point of distinction being, that the three members did not pass down below the horizontal bar, as they are now represented in the modern fleur de lis. Examples of this may be seen in the Louvre of the date of St. Louis, which is the early part of the thirteenth century. We have thus the very curious probability that the cognisance of the Prince of Wales has had its particular form influenced from the same symbol to which the origin of the peculiar form of Jagannatha is ascribed.

The Trisula occupied a very prominent position in Buddhist symbolism. It is represented on coins; it was placed on the end of flagstaffs or standards; and we find it on the sword-scabbards of soldiers. More prominent still, it is placed as a symbol over the gateways of topes, such as Sanchi, near Bhilsah, and Bharhut,-thus resembling the E' at Delphi,-at the Amaravati tope; it is frequently represented as an object of adoration, with groups around it performing pooja, or worship. Amaravati is on the same coast as Puri, and at no great distance. We have in this an important link in favour of General Cunningham's theory, which is, that the worship of the Trisula had at Puri grown into the worship of Jagannatha. The supposition is that there had been a very celebrated object of this kind at that place, and that it was a great attraction to pilgrims; and that somehow or another a rude face had been added, and that the two side members of the trisula have been bent forward to make them look more like arms. Among the sculptures at Sanchi there is a group of three trisulas, and

General Cunningham thinks it may have been from such an arrangement that the trio of figures-Jagannatha, Balarama, and Subhadra originated. This is no doubt possible, but it must be noticed that the lady in this case is without arms, and the explanation leaves out the question how

GROUP OF THREE TRISULAS AT SANCHI,

the Sudarsana Chakra came into existence. It is most difficult to find the truth in all its details through a mass of legends extending over so many centuries. Out of such a tangled web we should be grateful to get even a few probabilities, and this theory of the origin of Jagannatha seems, so far as our knowledge at present goes, to be

acceptable. It has been recognised by Mr. Fergusson, whose authority in such matters stands so high; and Rajendralala Mitra also gives his adherence to it.

It

The images are made from the wood of the Nim tree (Melia Azadirachta), and they are renewed at certain intervals of time. is generally supposed that new images are made every twelve years; and two Hindus from Puri, who told me this, said that a dream comes to the chief Brahmin as to where the wood will be found. The last time the renewal took place the wood was procured near Kalicot, in the Ganjam district. According to Rajendralala Mitra the time of renewal is regulated partly by astrological calculations and partly by local prejudices. It is believed that the Rajah in whose reign the renewal takes place dies soon afterwards, and this naturally has an influence on the operation. The astronomical aspect which bears on the date is the occurrence of two moons in the month Ashadha; this gives a very irregular interval, for it varies from seven to thirty years. A very sacred object is preserved in one of the images, but what this is no one seems to know. Even Rajendralala Mitra, although a Vaisnavite Hindu, is unable to speak with certainty; he declares this something to be the mystery of mysteries in Orissa.' According to one account it is a bit of the log which first came floating on the sea to Indradyumna; another says it is a fragment of the original image; some say it is a box with quicksilver, which is considered to be the spirit which is removed from the old to the new image. My two Hindu friends told me it was

a salagram stone, and that it was placed in the breast of the figure-the breast of such an image being a rather indefinitive statement. The usually accepted story is that of its being one of the bones of Krishna. Whatever it is, it is removed by a boy at midnight, and the boy is believed to die or disappear before a twelvemonth has passed away.

The Sudarsana Chakra is a wooden post about six feet high, and its surface is carved with a check pattern. Rajendralala Mitra, with all his minuteness of detail, fails to explain why this should be called a chakra; he even omits to notice that it is not a chakra at all. The word chakra means a wheel, and the priests say there is one marked on the top of this sacred post. The wheel was another of the important Buddhist symbols, and it is found very prominent among the sculptures of that period. The discus or quoit of Vishnu is also called a chakra. As we know the exact form of both these symbols, a doubt is reasonably raised regarding this so-called chakra.

THE SUDARSANA CHAKRA.

Its shape suggests that it may have been the well-known symbol of Siva, but its being made of wood instead of stone is, however, against a theory such as this.

The Hebrews had a very ample vocabulary for idols. Among their words was one gillulim, which means 'rolling things,' and was applied in contempt to gods of wood and stone, as helpless objects that could be rolled on the ground. The figures at Puri deserve to be included in this term. They are exceptional as specimens of Hindu art, which is generally carefully executed, and is often very beautiful. Jagannatha has more the appearance of being an idol of a savage people than of the races of India. At Bhuvaneswara, which is close to Puri, there exists the remains of a most splendid group of temples covered with a most lavish expenditure of sculpture. An inspection of Rajendralala Mitra's two volumes will convey some idea how beautiful the art upon them is; and yet, with this art so near, these rolling logs of wood at Puri are the objects that draw pilgrims from every part of Hindustan. Mr. Ruskin has declared that intense religious devotion and love of art seldom are found together; and he might point to the abortions at Orissa and their worshippers as a good example of the theory. Yet if the explanation which has been given of their origin is correct, these icons are not the rude efforts of a savage people. They can scarcely be called a development, for they are a deterioration from a higher type. The Trisul was a symbol of Dharma, the law or faith of Buddha; and symbolism belongs only to the higher forms of religion. As Jagannatha, the trisul, has ceased to be a symbol, it has become the lord of the world itself. This is the history of nearly all symbols-it is common to the West as it is to the East. Symbols almost always, through time, become to the worshipper the thing symbolised. It is the poetic power of our nature that evolves symbols, but the mob cares not for such things; they want realities, and hence the worship of such objects as Jagannatha and his relatives. Whatever the spiritual or more highlydeveloped mind may desire, the multitude wish for something to worship that is tangible and real, and in most parts of the world we see that the demand produces the supply.

At Puri, Jagannatha is not only a god, but he is treated as if he were a living personage. With his brother and sister enthroned in a magnificent temple, which becomes a palace, they are as royal monarchs who receive the devotion of the people, and are attended by the priests as their officers and servants. At early dawn they are wakened by the ringing of bells; when the temple door is opened they are saluted in Oriental fashion; ablutions are performed; a ceremony is gone through which means that they are having their teeth washed. People who have been to India have seen this done by the natives with a bit of a particular kind of wood; the end is mashed out and made soft, and this is rubbed with water on the teeth. A similar bit of stick is moved about in front of Jagannatha, and his teeth are thereby cleaned; at a particular hour Ballabha Bhoga, which will be better understood as Chotahazri, or