Chrysti the Wordsmith > Radio Scripts

In the 14th century, strange tales began to circulate throughout Europe of a religious ritual held in the city of Puri, in northeastern India. It was the annual procession of Jagganath, or the "Lord of the World," one of the many titles of the god Vishnu.

In a colossal display of veneration, Jagganath disciples mounted an image of their god on a wheeled cart, 45 feet high. Pilgrims moved in unison, many bodies deep, pushing and pulling at the vehicle as it rolled in procession from the city temple.

Stories multiplied about Jagganath supplicants throwing themselves under the moving wheels of the carriage in an act of ecstatic sacrifice. Scandalized Europeans no doubt exaggerated accounts of these "religious suicides." The fatalities were most likely accidental, with devotees simply falling in the crush of the crowd.

Nevertheless, tales of this religious festival inspired the term juggernaut, after the god whose Hindi name means "Lord of the World." In modern English, a juggernaut is an inexorable, implacable force that consumes all in its path. Early steam locomotives were the juggernauts of 19th century rails; armored tanks were the juggernauts of the battlefield during the first two world wars.

Radio Script > Juggernaut