Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

6 JJabruSky god. Elamite [Iran]. Local deity largelyeclipsed by AN.JAGANNATH (lord of the world)ORIGIN Hindu (Puranic) [India]. Transmutationof the essence of the god Višnu.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP circa AD 400 andprobably earlier until present day.SYNONYMS Jaggernaut.CENTER(S) OF CULT Bengal and Puri (Oríssa).ART REFERENCES bronze sculptures. Well-knownwooden image at Puri.LITERARY SOURCES Ramayana epic; Puranictexts.Jagannath occupies an obscure position. Hissister is SUBHADRA and his brother Balabhadra.He is depicted in hideous fashion as a monsterwith an enormous head and bulging eyes, butwith no legs and only the stumps of arms.According to legend, when VIŠNU was accidentlyslain by a hunter, his bones were placedin a box and VISVAKARMA, the Hindu god ofartisans, was commissioned to create a newbody to cover the bones. His agreement wasconditional on no one seeing the work until itwas finished. KRSNA’s curiosity got the better ofhim and the resultant half-finished freak wasJagannath.In an unusual departure from normal ritualpractice, the image of Jagannath is removed fromhis sanctuary at Puri for a week each year andaired in public view. Two festivals, the Rathayatraand Snanayatra, are dedicated to Jagannath andhis siblings.JagaubisFire god. Pre-Christian Lithuanian. Largelyeclipsed by GABIJA.JahweSee YHWH.JakombaGod of morality. Bangala [Democratic Republicof Congo, central Africa]. Also known as the godof hearts, he controls human thought. Also Nzakomba.Jalinprabha (light of the sun)God. Buddhist. A BODHISATTVA or buddhadesignate.Color: red. Attributes: staff, sun discand sword. Also Suryaprabha.147