Transformation From Unitary Icon To Triad
The Madala Panji observes that Neela Madhav transformed into Jagannath and was worshipped alone as a unitary figure, not as the part of a triad. It is significant to note that the epigraphic sources refer only to a unitary deity Purushottama Jagannath. These sources are silent on the existence of Balabhadra and Subhadra. Such state of affairs has led to arguments that Purushottama was the original deity and Balabhadra and Subhadra were subsequently drawn in as additions to a unitary figure and formed a triad.
As per scholars, Devi Subhadra could be subsequent addition upon the resurgence of Shaktism as the consort ("Not sister") of Jagannath. At some point of time the figure of Lord Balabhadra may have been added to satisfy the Saivas to the existing couple Jagannath and Devi Subhadra. At this juncture, a major change had to be introduced into the relationship between the deities since as per traditional Oriya culture, the elder brother is not permitted even to see the face of younger brother's spouse. Therefore, as a solution, the erstwhile consort (Shri) of Jagannath was relieved from dual images of Jagannath-Shri and Subhadra, the sister to both to deities was introduced.
In the 1970s, there was a joint German-Oriya attempt at a serious investigation to these issues. Its results have been published in the magum-opus The Cult of Jagannath and the Regional Tradition of Orissa. In a note appearing in JRAS, 1981, pp. 26–39, as per noted historian, Dr. Hermann Kulke has tried of late to prove (with the academic help of Oriya scholars) that the Puri temple had been originally built by Ganga king Anantavarman Codaganga (1078-1147 AD) for Vishnu (Krisna) and Lakshmi and that Balarama was introduced there at about 1230 AD), during the reign of Anangabhima III after Devi Laksmi's transformation into Subhadra. This is because there is an Oriya convention, according to which the younger brother's wife (i.e. Krishna's wife Lakshmi) could not have lived in the same house with her husband's older brother i.e. Balarama.
The discus Sudarshana chakra was also a subsequent addition to satisfy the Ganapatyas and Sauras. This could only have taken place over the process of Krishna consciousness was well advanced and given the political importance of the cult after Chodagangadev, only under a special royal impact.
Unique and enigmatic are the images of Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarsan without any parallel in any Hindu shrine. They are not built according to the injunctions in traditional Shilpa Sastras (Iconography). In fact there is no foundation in traditional sculpture for the construction of image of Gods and Goddesses in wood. And thus the four-fold images of Daru-Brahma stand apart of all the other icons in the temples situated even in the precincts of the great temple.
All the hundred odd sub-ordinate deities all compare to traditional icons by and large, being anthropomorphic in form and built according to scriptural descriptions in stone so as to be eternal and immortal.
Yet the strange descriptions of Chaturdha Murti or four-fold deities is the centre of the Jagannath cult and has dominated Oriya life, art and culture and in the sense it synthesises all the major cults of India. It is not out of place to mention here that Neela Madhav in his primitive shape is now being worshipped on the hill-top Brahmadri or Brahmachala on the bank of river Mahanadi at Kantilo.
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