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Chained Hanuman

© Harsh Nevatia

There are many ancient and famous temples in the present-day state of Orissa on the eastern coast of India. They include the Lingaraj Temple in Bhuvaneshwar, the Sun Temple in Konark and above all the Jagannath Temple in Puri. Jagannath, in Hindi, means Lord of the World but the Anglicised version, Juggernaut, has come to mean a great force sweeping away everything in its path, because of the famed chariot procession at Puri.

In Puri, not far from the Jagannath Temple is a small temple, quite unknown and architecturally insignificant, which has an interesting tale behind it. This tale illustrates how man's limitless imagination has woven together characters from different epics. The locals call it the temple of Bedi Hanuman, or Chained Hanuman. Hanuman is the monkey-God devotee of Lord Rama and Jagannath is another name for Lord Krishna. The temple is also known as Daria Mahabir because it is on the seashore (daria means sea and Mahabir is another name of Hanuman).

Though the present Jagannath Temple was built in the 7th century AD, there are references to a temple at Puri in the ancient scriptures. The legend goes like this. When the Jagannath Temple was first built, Varuna, the God of the Sea, wanted to pay his respects. So he came right up to the temple. The waves began to lash against the temple walls and the structure was endangered. Hence Lord Vishnu had the temple shifted a bit inland. He also had a small shrine built on the shore and ensconced Hanuman in it. It was Hanuman's duty to prevent Varuna from entering the temple of Jagganath. Whenever Varuna tried to move towards the Jagannath Temple, Hanuman threatened him with his mace and Varuna hastily withdrew.

Puri is in one of the poorest regions of India. All Hanuman got to eat was lentils and rice. Hanuman was a gourmet and was used to being served all kinds of delicacies. He especially began to crave for various sweetmeats his devotees offered him in Ayodhya, the capital city of Rama's kingdom. Hanuman, of course, has a permanent place in the city of his Lord. So one day he abandoned his post and left for Ayodhya. Varuna was waiting for an opportunity like this and he lost no time in reaching the gate of the Jagannath temple. Lord Vishnu had to intervene again. The Jagannath temple was shifted inwards one more time. Hanuman was called and soundly admonished. He promised not to fail this time. But the craving for good food was too much to bear. Hanuman was compelled to desert his duty again.

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