Arjun, a history student, visits a museum gallery on religious life in early medieval India. In the first hall he sees a wooden image of a deity from Puri in Orissa, shown with a sister and a brother; a label explains that such images are made even today by local tribal specialists. In the next hall is a stone smeared with ochre, worshipped in a village shrine, and beside it a tenth-century sculpture of a Buddhist goddess from Bihar. A last panel compares the gods of the Vedic hymns with the gods of later religious stories. Arjun writes down questions for his teacher.
What does the wooden image from Puri tell Arjun about the integration of cults?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → A local deity was recognised as a form of Vishnu, who was visualised very differently there.
Option (1) A local deity was recognised as a form of Shiva and given a place in Puranic myths. — Incorrect. Shiva was another major deity of this period. The Puri deity, Jagannatha, was identified with Vishnu.
Option (2) A Buddhist deity of Orissa was renamed by Brahmanas and given a place among Vedic gods. — Incorrect. The image is of a local deity made by tribal specialists. It was linked to Vishnu, a Puranic god, whose worship grew as the Vedic gods faded.
Option (3) A local deity was recognised as a form of Indra and worshipped with Vedic sacrifices. — Incorrect. Indra was a Vedic god who became a marginal figure in this period. The local deity at Puri was joined to Vishnu instead.
Option (4) A local deity was recognised as a form of Vishnu, who was visualised very differently there. — Correct. This shows integration of cults: a local deity, still carved in wood by tribal specialists, was accepted as Jagannatha, a form of Vishnu. Vishnu, in turn, took a very different look at Puri.
NCERT (2026-27): “1.1 The integration of cults … “If you compare Fig. 6.2 with Fig. 4.26 (Chapter 4) you will notice that the deity is represented in a very different way. In this instance, a local deity, whose image was and continues to be made of wood by local tribal specialists, was recognised as a form of Vishnu. At the same time, Vishnu was visualised in a way that was very different from that in other parts of the country.” |