A chariot, a word, a world: the cultural voyage of ‘juggernaut’

New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: India has given many words to the English language. But perhaps none as weighty as ‘juggernaut’.

Derived from Lord Jagannath, the word goes back to the early 19th century to mean any large and overpowering force or object -- an allusion to the massive chariot of Lord Jagannath that is pulled by pilgrims every year across a three-kilometre journey in an annual spectacle of devotion in Puri. This year’s yatra, which started on June 27, will culminate on July 5.

Along with juggernaut, Indian languages have embellished English with many other words such as shampoo, mulligatawny soup, cummerbund, Jodhpurs and dacoit.

According to researcher and historian Anil Dhir, the word juggernaut is the collision between two forces, an encounter between two worlds: the English-speaking West and India.

“Rev Claudius Buchanan was the first British official to popularise the word ‘juggernaut’ in both Britain and the United States in the early 1800s. Buchanan was an Anglican chaplain stationed in India and a staunch supporter of Christian missions to India,” Dhir told news agency.

The reverend used the word with a negative connotation.

“He viewed the word ‘juggernaut’ as something dangerous, violent, and a bloody religious cult. This is because in the 1800s many people committed suicide after coming under the wheels of Lord Jagannath’s chariots during the Rath Yatra festival,” he added.

According to Bhaskar Mishra, a researcher in Jagannath culture, the word Jagannath is a combination of two words - ‘jagat’ (universe) and ‘nath’ (master).

Despite its origins in religious texts, the word over the last three centuries has come to be used for an inexorable force that rolls over everything in its path.

The earliest known use of the noun juggernaut is in the mid 1600s, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. OED’s earliest evidence for juggernaut is from 1638, in writer W Bruton’s noted work “Newes From The East-Indies”, or “A Voyage To Bengalla”.

Apart from lending itself to a popular south India food chain, the name was also adopted by publishing house Juggernaut Books.

“When I was thinking of starting up on my own, my husband suggested it to me, as it was an English word with Indian origins. I loved the sound of it, its playfulness, and also my grandfather had worked in Orissa so it felt like a nice subtle nod to my own family’s story,” said Chiki Sarkar, founder of Juggernaut Books.