Jaganath

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Juggernaut \Jug"ger*naut`\, n. [Skr. jagann[=a]tha lord of the
     world.]
     1. One of the names under which Vishnu, in his incarnation as
        Krishna, is worshiped by the Hindus. See also {Jagannath}.
        [Written also {Juggernnath}, {Jaganath}, {Jagannath},
        {Jaganatha}, {Jagannatha}, etc.]


        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: The principal seat of the worship of Juggernaut
           (Jagannath) is at P[^u]ri in Orissa. At certain times
           the idol is drawn from the temple by the multitude, on
           a high car with sixteen wheels. The idol is considered
           to contain the bones of Krishna and to possess a soul.
           The principal festivals are the Snanayatra, when the
           idol is bathed, and the Rathayatra, when the image is
           drawn upon a car adorned with obscene paintings.
           Formerly it was erroneously supposed that fanatical
           devotees threw themselves under the wheels of this car,
           to be crushed as a sacrifice to the god. It is now
           known that any death within the temple of Jagannath is
           considered to render the place unclean, and any
           spilling of blood in the presence of the idol is a
           pollution. As a result of this erroneous belief,
           however, the word {juggernaut} is now used principally
           in the figurative sense 2.
           [1913 Webster +PJC]
  
     2. Any large, unstoppable force, power, or popular movement
        which defeats or destroys any person who gets in its way
        or attempts to stop it; as, for years the Notre Dame
        football team was an unstoppable juggernaut; after the
        early primaries, Johnson's campaign became a juggernaut,
        crushing all rivals.
        [PJC]