Jagannath Culture offers an elevating and enchanting collage of philosophy, literature, wisdom and lots more. It covers the entire gamut from timeless tales to ageless credos. It provides to the young generation a glimpse of our rich and glorious heritage as well as paradigms of value.
To commemorate the Rath Yatra, Learning and Creativity presents 10 Tales of Lord Jagannath written by Ramendra Kumar.
Ramendra Kumar has been doing research on Jagannath Culture for more than a decade. What makes this book unique is that though these tales have been around for centuries in oral form, they have not found a place in any anthology for children in English. Besides, subtly interwoven in each of these stories is a value which is relevant even today. The anthology thus aims to enthrall as well as elevate by offering the children eternal tales with a contemporary sensibility.
The three images of Lord Jagannath, Goddess Subhadra and Lord Balabhadra represent the three colours of humankind
Jagannath Culture is not merely a religious belief, it is a way of life. Given below are a few nuggets which illustrate what makes Jagannath Culture an all encompassing consciousness:
The three images of Lord Jagannath, Goddess Subhadra and Lord Balabhadra represent the three colours of humankind – black, yellow and white. Can there be a more evocative illustration of the concept of Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam or ‘world is one family’.
Today when planet earth is being rocked by violence and intolerance the concept of Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam, if internalised, can provide the healing touch.
In temples the Lord is usually seen with his wife/companion. The Jagannath Temple is the only temple in the world where the Lord appears with his brother Lord Balabhadra and sister Goddess Subhadra. Can there be a better example of family values?
In modern India the joint family system is slowly breaking up and the nuclear family is becoming more and more the norm. This is leading to several social and psychological problems. By embracing the ethos of family values our society can once again usher in the era of brotherhood and peace for which it was famous.
The images are made of wood. They signify commitment to the environment.
Nature is fast becoming the first casualty in man’s quest for prosperity. Man should draw inspiration from the Jagannath Culture and go back to preserving and nurturing nature.
All the Gods and Goddesses are ensconced in their chambers waiting for their devotees to go to them for darshan. Lord Jagannath is the only Lord who, along with his siblings, comes out of his abode and reaches out to his devotee during the Rath Yatra which is also called the Patitapavan Yatra. Can there be a more eloquent example of love, affection and bonding?
It is often found and modern society that today’s leaders rather than reaching out to the people prefer to be in their cocoons of arrogance and power. As a result they get alienated from those whom they are supposed to serve. Rath Yatra teaches us the importance of achieving a connect between different layers of society.
As per legend, Lord Jagannath was originally worshipped in the form of Neelamadhav by a tribal known as Visvavasu. A class of sevaks known as Daitapatis, which has a tribal lineage, even now renders important services in the temple. The custom of involving tribals in religious ceremonies in a Vaishnavite temple is once again a phenomenon unique to the temple of Lord Jagannath.
Tribals have long been marginalised by the society. However, the Jagannath Culture doesn’t believe in excluding anyone, rather it encourages the participation of one and all.
Lord Jagannath’s reach is beyond religion, faith and doctrine. His disciples include Adiguru, Sankaracharya, Sikh Guru, Nanak; Vaishnavite, Sri Chaitanya Deva; Ram Bhakta, Goswami Tulasi Das; devotee of Ganesh, Ganapati Bhatta; Muslim devotees, Kabir and Bhakta Salbeg; devotees such as Dasia Bauri, Mania Das and many others who belonged to lower caste and the Christian disciple, Captain Beat, etc.
The Jagannath Culture crosses the boundaries of caste, creed, religion and race to embrace the entire humankind.
An example of how the Jagannath Culture epitomizes a classless and casteless society is in the serving of Mahaprasad. Any one belonging to any caste can take the Mahaprasad or Kaivalya from the same plate.
These stories have been republished from the book Tales of Lord Jagannath by Ramendra Kumar. This book is available on Amazon.in and has been published by:B K Publications Pvt. Ltd.
Ramendra Kumar (Ramen) is an award-winning author, performance storyteller, and TEDx speaker whose 54 books span fiction for all ages, satire, biographies, and inspirational non-fiction. Translated into 33 languages and recipient of 41 All-India awards for children’s literature, his works — known for their wit, warmth, and emotional resonance — have touched readers across India and beyond. His titles with the National Book Trust (NBT), India alone have sold over 1.5 million copies.
Ramen has participated in international literary festivals and marquee Indian events, including the Jaipur Literature Festival. He has served as a jury member for The Times of India’s Women “AutHer” Awards, a mentor for the Scholastic Writers Academy, and was named “Author and Storyteller of the Year” on Talking Stories, London.
His arduous battle with cancer was featured on Humans of Bombay, one of India’s largest storytelling platforms, where his story garnered over four million views. In October 2025, he won the ‘Mr. India Cancer Warrior’ crown at a unique competition for cancer survivors held in New Delhi!
An alumnus of the prestigious Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet, Ramen is an engineer and an MBA who left his role as General Manager (Corporate Communications), SAIL, to pursue his true calling — writing, storytelling, and inspiring lives.
Ramen’s website is www.ramendra.in and he has a page devoted to him on Wikipedia.
All Posts of Ramendra Kumar
Hope you enjoyed reading...
... we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading and supporting our creative, informative and analytical posts than ever before. And yes, we are firmly set on the path we chose when we started... our twin magazines Learning and Creativity and Silhouette Magazine (LnC-Silhouette) will be accessible to all, across the world.
We are editorially independent, not funded, supported or influenced by investors or agencies. We try to keep our content easily readable in an undisturbed interface, not swamped by advertisements and pop-ups. Our mission is to provide a platform you can call your own creative outlet and everyone from renowned authors and critics to budding bloggers, artists, teen writers and kids love to build their own space here and share with the world.
Got a poem, story, musing or painting you would like to share with the world? Send your creative writings and expressions to editor@learningandcreativity.com
Learning and Creativity publishes articles, stories, poems, reviews, and other literary works, artworks, photographs and other publishable material contributed by writers, artists and photographers as a friendly gesture. The opinions shared by the writers, artists and photographers are their personal opinion and does not reflect the opinion of Learning and Creativity- emagazine. Images used in the posts (not including those from Learning and Creativity's own photo archives) have been procured from the contributors themselves, public forums, social networking sites, publicity releases, free photo sites such as Pixabay, Pexels, Morguefile, etc and Wikimedia Creative Commons. Please inform us if any of the images used here are copyrighted, we will pull those images down.
