Jagannath is a Sanskrit name for deity form of Lord Krishna. The term means Master of the Universe (Jagat means Universe and Nath means master). The Vaishnavas consider Jagannath to be the most merciful Lord in the world. The image of the God has no legs and only stumps of arms. Jagannath comes together with his brother Balarama and sister Subhadra. The later two images are also devoid of hands and feet. These three images are worshipped in all the Jagannath temples, situated mostly in the eastern part of India. The oldest and most famous Jagannath idol is in the Temple of Puri, in Orissa, India where every year the famous Ratha Yatra festival takes place.

There are two traditional stories associated with the deity of Jagannath. In the first story Lord Krishna appeared before King Indradyumna and ordered him to carve a deity from a log that he would found washed up on the seashore. A mysterious old Brahamin carpenter appeared before him to make the idol of the deity. The carpenter insisted that nobody should disturb him during the making of the paragon of the deity. He enclosed himself within an isolated room in the palace and continued with the carpentry. The King waited anxiously outside the room and it took a very long time. Then a moment came when the king could hear no sound from the room. King Indradyumna was very impatient and apprehended the worst had happened inside the room. He opened the door with great anxiety and found the deity in half-finished condition, while the carpenter has vanished.

The mysterious carpenter was none other than Vishvakarma himself, who was the architect of gods. The king was extremely agitated as the deity was without arms and legs. He was very repented as he disturbed the carving. King Indradyumna was only pacified when divine sage Narada appeared before him and explained that the form of the deity is the legitimate form of the supreme personality of God and after that Jagannath,Balarama and Subhadra were worshipped with great veneration.

The second story is completely different though very interesting. The reason behind appearance of Jagannath was Krisna`s eavesdropping on the Gopis (Krishna`s female play mates), who were talking among themselves how much they loved Krishna. The Gopis asked sister Subhadra to keep watch if Krishna was coming. But after a while Subhadra was engrossed in listening to the Gopi`s stories as she was overwhelmed by the Gopis` devotion and love. Thus Subhadra forgot her duty and became completely unaware of her surrounding. She did not notice Krishna and Balarama approaching. As the two brothers listened to the story their hairs stood on end, their arms and legs retracted, eyes became larger and larger and they smiled broadly with ecstasy. This is the reason why Jagannath, Balarama and Subhadra appeared in that form.

The Vaishnava devotee worship Jagannath as an abstract form of Krishna. The deities of Jagannath, Balabhadra (Balaram) and Subhadra are usually worshipped in a temple but once in every year in the Ashada Masa (month of June-July) the deities are taken out of the temple, placed on the chariot to make a public show. The procession is called `RathaYatra`, which proceeds to the `Mausimaa Temple` (Temple of Jagannath`s maternal aunty). The deities stay there for seven days and are taken back to the original temple with another procession. The `Rathas` are the huge wooden carts, which are built every year and are pulled by the millions of pilgrims. The Rathayatra Festival commemorates Krishna`s return to his home in Vrindavan after a long period of separation from his near and dear people there.