Enlightened Views of Orissa's First Christian Missionaries

[Guest guest]

Click link for an early Missionary perspective of Jagannathhttp://vedicempire.com/images/stories/mish.JPG"Bampton's

"forlorn hope" to plant the banner of the Cross within the precincts of

Juggernaut's temple is vengefully vented by Peggs to whom "Juggernaut,

the grat, the obscene, the bloody Juggernaut, must fall; Long perhaps

will be the struggle and fierce the conflict but he must fall; and the

place which knows him now will know him no more forever."So lamented

Amos Sutton." "During

the 19th Century Sutton's translation of books on Science helped the

people of Orissa to be aware of the new knowledge till now beyond their

reach. But he did not succeed in finding a place in the hearts of the

natives because of his attitude towards the State-deity Lord Jagannath.

Thus, Sutton and his friends dared to accuse the Lord as “an idol of

wood” and Shrikshetra as the “devil’s headquarters” (Bampton), the

celebrated Emporium of Idolatry (Sutton) This attitude of these

missionaries made the natives to look at them with suspicion." Bampton,

Peggs and Sutton were the first Christian Missionaries in Orissa.I

wonder why Hindus have long been suspicious of the Missionary motives?!

Some may argue and say that Christains no longer to such

views yet none can deny that their goal is exactly the same. When one

is being robbed the method involved is unimportant. Development of Modern Education in India: An Empirical Study of Orissa By Bina Kumari Sarma In

1812 Missionaries appealed to the British govt to work in Orissa. The

British Govt rejected their appeal fearing that radical missionary

attacks on the traditional socio-religious may provide a spark for

widespread political disturbances. (Must have been the VHP or Bajrang

Dal enforcing their will upon the British Govt!)

In 1813 the new British Govt gave permission and the First Oriya

convert on record was in 1828. 1st 3 oriya evangelists trained in 1841

in Cuttack by Samuel Amos. First Baptist missionaries in Orissa were William Bampton and

James Pegg arriving in 1816..they considered education ‘as auxiliary to

preaching’and saw education as a means for the gradual destruction of

Hinduism and the spread of Hinduism. . Writing in the Asiatic Observer one Missionary observed:

“Before we can reasonably hope that the Hindus will be converted into

Christ, it is necessary that they should be capable of understanding of

what the missionary preaches them.” The establishment of schools was

recognized by the Baptist Mission Society as one of the best means for

the spread of Christianity and conversion of the people of India. To Missionary Laurie, Orissa was a land of superstitions; to Kaye, the "real character of Hindooism was repulsive. Way back in June 1806, Rev. Claudius Buchanan had written about the "atrocities" at Puri, This clergy had even suggested then for the establishment of a Christian institution to undermine the impact of Jagannath.In 1813 he wrote to the court of Directors to draw their attention to the promising prospects for evangelization and conversion "into the pure religion of Jesus Christ" most of the "heathens" who gather for the "annual carnival" of car-festival in 1823 a thousand copies of the Gospel, translated to Oriya were distributed by William Bampton and James Peggs. The effort drew a blank. Reinforced though in their ranks by Charles Lacey and Amos Sutton, they could hardly make any inroads. Bampton's pamphlet, "Folly of the Worship of Jagannath" only brought the initially promising but finally spiteful proposition of early convert Sadhu Sundar Das. The missionaries had forgotten that it is better to be irresponsibly right than responsibly wrong Bampton's "forlorn hope"

to plant the banner of the Cross within the precincts of Juggernaut's temple is vengefully vented by Peggs to whom "Juggernaut, the grat, the obscene, the bloody Juggernaut, must fall; Long perhaps will be the struggle and fierce the conflict but he must fall; and the place which knows him now will know him no more for ever."So lamented Sutton, out of typical Christian disillusionment,

"your prayers can not pierce this gloom nor your labours open an avenue sufficient to let down a ray of heaven's light on this idolatrous province."Buchanan had described Orissa as "the wide and extended empire of the Moloch in the heathen world." Peggs was more candid in his admission, "Orissa presented a challenge to the missionaries since it contained the temple of Jagannath, the Mecca

of Hindustan, the Sebastapol of Hindu idolatry" (J.Peggs, A Brief Sketch of the Rise and Progress of Cuttack, London, 1854, p-4). The strong bond of "Mahaprasad brotherhood" among the Oriyas was deliberated upon in the British Parliament in January, 1873. In 1817, Robert Ker, in his report, described the Oriyas as rude and ignorant in the eyes of the British.Wilkins (Hindu Mythology) had described Jagannath- Puri as "one of the greatest religious centres of the world." Charles Grome regarded it as "probably the most celebrated temple in India to which resort pilgrims from all parts of the country" (Collector of Pilgrim Tax to Board of Revenue : 11th Nov.1806, JTC Pt-I) It seems the missionaries outnumbered the converts. Stray are instances of conversion, as of 'Lokhun' Das who tore

his sacred-thread to declare his conversion. http://orissagov.nic.in/e-magazine/Orissareview/july2003/englishchpter/Lord%20Jagannath%20and%20the%20Bicker%20of%20the%20British%20During%2019th%20Century.pdf July - 2003 Orissa Review Lord Jagannath and the Bicker of the British During

the 19th Century Sutton's translation of books on Science helped the

people of Orissa to be aware of the new knowledge till now beyond their

reach. But he did not succeed in finding a place in the hearts of the natives because of his attitude towards the State-deity Lord Jagannath. Thus, Sutton and his friends dared to accuse the Lord as “an idol of wood” and Shrikshetra as the “devil’s headquarters” (Bampton), the celebrated Emporium of Idolatry (Sutton) This attitude of these missionaries made the natives to look at them with suspicion. Amos-Sutton – Narrative of the rise and progress of mission at Orissa – Introduction – Pp 06-08, 56-67. 18. (a) These are the few examples how Sutton and Lacey saw Jagannath– “the idols have been replaced on the cars to return. I can not refrain from noticing the gestures lascivious songs which were again employed to animate the draggers and the spread an infernal enthusiasm through out the gazing assemble…. The following day a poor wretched himself under Juggernaut’s car and was crushed to death. (Sutton narratives (1830) in : Indian’s cries to British humanity by pegs. (b) Though the concourse of the Pilgrims was small than formerly, the

horrors of idolatry were no less apparent. One miserable pilgrim immolated himself under the wheels of Jaggernaut’s car. His brains were dashed out and he immediately died. Account of Lacey (1977), in History of the General Bapist Mission Pp 179, and in History of Jagannath Temple in the Nineteenth century - Prabhat Mukherjee, (1977), Firma KLM (pvt) Limited, Calcutta - Pp 299 - 300. © William Laurie, who had a tour to the then Orissa in 1846 described – Orissa may be compared to a huge Caldron, which been boiling for many hundreds of years, into which ignorance, stupidity and bigotry have cast so many poisonous ingredients that it is difficult to say that when the contents will become purified and good….it’s early history is perhaps more wrapped in obscurity than that of any provinces. Ignorance, oppression and superstition garnished with the deceitful trappings of romance, either by, or through the means of self-interested potentates, have for many ages, gilded the misery which has 13 been endeaoured by its poor deluded inhabitance – William F.B.Laurie (1846) - Orissa, the garden of superstition and idolatry, including an account of British connection with the temple of Jagannath – London, Johnston and Haunter, 26 – Paternoster Row : and its princes street, Edinburgh. 1846 Pp 05, 06. (d) Sutton who Stayed in Orissa nearly 28 years has observed – The whole tendency of the Hindu Idolatry is to encourage duplicity and licentiousness. The wonder is that the people of India, generally, are not far more deprived than they are, still as a matter of fact. The writer is disposed to believe that there is in Orissa considerably more of conjugal fidelity, of sterling home virtues and domestic happiness, compelled with more general respectability of character, than has been ascribed to Hindus generally. Orissa and its Evangelisation (1850), Derby England, Pp 54 William F.B. Laurie, a missionary in his chapter Puri and the Temple of Jagannath, in

his book, "Orissa, the Garden of Superstition and Idolatry" has jeered at people's faith in Lord Jagannath and the display of their religious sentiments during the Car Festival. His fidelity to Christianity and abhorrence of non-Christian faith prompted him to make the following comments : "The entire scene of the Rath Jatra savours, to an incredible extent of the ludicrous, the barbarous

and the awful. The eager expectation, the unceasing din of a great multitude, the acclamations of "victory to Jagannath !" which rend the car when the images are brought forth in an erect posture ... There you may picture to yourself Christianity shuddering; there, morality weeping ... Prof. P.Mukherjee in his article, 'Car Festival under the East India Company' has given quite an apt comment : "The Christian missionaries used to visit Puri during the Car Festival to vilify Jagannath and to persuade the pilgrims in distress to embark christianity. Their accounts are naturally biased." The book Was Hinduism Invented? By Brian K. Pennington

reveals the intense prejudice and bias of early Christian missionaries

in Orissa. In Buchanan’s Christian Researches in Asia, He says, “We

know we are approaching Juggernaut by the human bones which we have

seen for some days strewn by the way.” O there is no Pity in

Juggernaut! No mercy, no tenderness of heart in Moloch’s Kingdom!” the

characteristics of Moloch’s worship is obscenity and blood!” http://vedicempire.com/index.php?option=com_content & task=view & id=84 & Itemid=27 US Texas based Church urges members to donate to build a church before its too late! Phulbani Church is one of the bright spots in the history of North Dallas Church of

God’s 15 years of history. It was a work imitated by the request of North Dallas Church of God’s Missions Department during the year 1997. God is blessing this work and now Phublani is the anchor point of the evangelization around that area. But once the BJP attains an absolute majority in India, the doors of all Christian works will be closed for good. http://www.youthfocus.net/ndcg/missions-project.pdf.