Figure

This wooden figure is a portable image of Jagannatha (‘Lord of the World’). It was used in processional religious festivals at a Jagannatha temple in Orissa, eastern India. The figure is sculpted from wood taken from a forest location under priestly supervision. It has been covered with cloth and then painted.

Members of the Jagannatha cult believed him to be a form of the Hindu god Krishna (and hence of Vishnu). Uniquely in Indian devotional imagery, the Jagannatha cult images are renewed every 12 years. New images are prepared and on the appointed day replace the existing icons, which are supposed to be ritually buried or otherwise concealed. In the month of Asadha (June/July) these images are taken from the temple sanctuary, bathed and dressed, and installed in the temple chariots (‘ratha’) for the temple festival parade.