Apart from the principal companion deities, Jagannath icon shows a Sudarshana Chakra and sometimes under the umbrella cover of multiheaded Sesha Naga, both linking him to Vishnu.
He was one of the introduction to Hinduism to early European explorers and merchants who sailed into Calcutta and ports of the Bay of Bengal.
The Italian Odoric of Pordenone who was a Franciscan friar, visited his temple and procession in 1321 CE, and described him in the language of the Church.
Pic/PTI From left: Sunny Deol, Lata Mangeshkar and Narendra Modi at an event held at the Mahalakshmi race course in Mumbai to felicitate Mangeshkar on the 51st anniversary of her patriotic track ‘Ae Mere Waton Ke Logon’.
Pic/Rane Ashish Narendra Modi (R) greets Bollywood music composer Bappi Lahiri at an election rally in Sreerampur, around 40 km north west of Kolkata, on April 27, 2014.