Hermann Kulke and the Historiography of Odisha: Remembering the German Historian Who Reframed the Study of Jagannath, Kingship, and Regional Identity

Apr 14

8 min read

On 10 March 2026, the global community of historians and Indologists lost one of the most perceptive interpreters of India’s regional histories. Professor Hermann Kulke, the German historian whose scholarship fundamentally reshaped the academic understanding of Odisha’s past, passed away at the age of eighty-seven. For more than four decades, Kulke dedicated his intellectual life to studying the historical processes that shaped Odisha’s society, religion, and political traditions. His work represents one of the most sustained engagements by an international scholar with the region's cultural and historical landscape.

Before Kulke’s intervention, Odisha often appeared in broader histories of India largely through fragmented references—through the architectural grandeur of temples such as Konark and Puri, through dynastic lists of regional rulers, or through colonial administrative accounts that reduced the region to a peripheral province within the British Indian Empire. Kulke approached the subject differently. Instead of focusing solely on monuments or royal chronicles, he examined the deeper institutional and ideological structures that connected religion, political authority, and social integration in the region. Through this approach, he demonstrated that Odisha’s history could not be understood simply through architecture or dynastic narratives; it had to be studied as a living cultural system in which ritual traditions, pilgrimage networks, and political symbolism interacted over centuries.

Kulke’s scholarship helped transform Odisha from a marginal subject in South Asian historiography into a significant field of academic inquiry. His writings encouraged scholars to see the region not as a historical periphery but as an important example of how regional identities and political institutions evolved in pre-modern South Asia. Today, historians, anthropologists, and scholars of religion continue to draw on the frameworks he developed to study the cultural and political history of Odisha.

Intellectual Formation and Academic Background

Hermann Kulke was born in 1938 in Germany, at a time when European scholarship on India was undergoing major transformations. After the Second World War, German universities began rebuilding their traditions in Indology and South Asian studies, and Kulke became part of this emerging intellectual environment. He pursued his higher education in Indology and history, fields that required not only historical training but also familiarity with classical languages such as Sanskrit. The German tradition of Indology emphasised rigorous textual analysis, epigraphic study, and historical interpretation, and these methodological foundations strongly influenced Kulke’s later research.

Kulke completed his doctoral work at the University of Freiburg, where he examined the historical development of the temple city of Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu. His doctoral dissertation analysed the religious institutions associated with the Chidambaram temple and their relationship with political authority in South India. Although this work focused geographically on Tamil Nadu, it introduced the themes that would later define Kulke’s scholarship: the study of temples as political institutions, the relationship between religious ideology and kingship, and the role of ritual authority in shaping regional societies.

After completing his doctorate, Kulke continued his academic career at the University of Heidelberg, particularly within the South Asia Institute, which had emerged as one of Europe’s major centres for the study of South Asia. It was during this period that Kulke’s attention turned increasingly toward Odisha. His habilitation research explored the Jagannath cult and the ideological foundations of Gajapati kingship, analysing how rulers in medieval Odisha used religious symbolism to legitimise political authority. This research marked the beginning of a scholarly engagement that would continue for decades and ultimately establish Kulke as one of the most influential historians of the region.

The Orissa Research Project and the Emergence of a New Historiography

One of the most significant contributions of Hermann Kulke to the study of Odisha came through his involvement in the Orissa Research Project, an interdisciplinary academic initiative conducted through the South Asia Institute at Heidelberg University. The project aimed to undertake a comprehensive study of Odisha’s cultural traditions by bringing together historians, anthropologists, linguists, and scholars of religion. This collaborative approach was particularly important because Odisha’s historical traditions could not be fully understood through a single disciplinary framework. The region’s history is deeply intertwined with ritual practices, temple institutions, literary traditions, and social organisation, and the Orissa Research Project sought to examine these elements collectively.

The most important outcome of this project was the publication of the influential volume “The Cult of Jagannath and the Regional Tradition of Orissa” in 1978, edited by Anncharlott Eschmann, Hermann Kulke, and Gaya Charan Tripathi. This work remains one of the most widely cited books in the academic study of Odisha. Rather than presenting Jagannath worship simply as a religious phenomenon, the book analysed it as a complex cultural institution that shaped the region's historical development. The contributors explored themes such as temple rituals, pilgrimage traditions, royal patronage, and the interaction between tribal and Brahmanical religious practices.

The significance of this work lies in its ability to demonstrate that the Jagannath cult cannot be understood merely through mythology or theological doctrine. Instead, it must be studied as a historical system that developed through centuries of social interaction, political patronage, and cultural adaptation. Through this interpretation, Kulke and his collaborators introduced a new historiographical perspective that placed Odisha at the centre of debates on regional identity formation in South Asia.

The Jagannath Cult as an Integrative Cultural System

Perhaps the most influential aspect of Hermann Kulke’s scholarship is his interpretation of the Jagannath cult as a mechanism of cultural integration. Earlier historians often approached Jagannath worship through devotional narratives or temple chronicles, focusing on mythology and ritual descriptions. Kulke argued that such approaches were insufficient to explain the tradition's historical significance. Instead, he suggested that the Jagannath cult should be understood as a regional integrative system that brought together diverse communities within a shared religious framework.

The religious traditions associated with Jagannath display remarkable syncretism. Elements of tribal religious practices coexist with classical Vaishnavite theology, while aspects of Shaivism, Shaktism, and even Buddhist symbolism appear within the temple’s ritual structure. Kulke emphasised that this syncretic character was not accidental but the result of historical processes through which local traditions were gradually incorporated into the Brahmanical religious system. The distinctive wooden form of the Jagannath deity, for example, differs significantly from the stone icons commonly found in classical Hindu temples. Kulke suggested that this feature may reflect the incorporation of indigenous tribal traditions into the temple’s ritual framework.

The participation of tribal communities in temple rituals further illustrates this historical integration. Certain ritual functions associated with the temple continue to be performed by communities traditionally identified with indigenous cultural traditions. The annual Ratha Yatra, one of the most famous religious festivals in India, symbolically reinforces this inclusive structure by allowing devotees from all social backgrounds to participate in pulling the deities' chariots.

Through such practices, the Jagannath tradition became more than a local religious cult. It evolved into a symbolic centre of Odisha’s regional identity, linking distant communities through pilgrimage networks and shared ritual practices.

Kingship, Sovereignty, and the Jagannath Temple

Another major contribution of Kulke’s scholarship lies in his analysis of the relationship between kingship and religion in medieval Odisha. In many ancient and medieval societies, rulers sought to legitimise their authority through religious symbolism. Kulke demonstrated that this process took a distinctive form in Odisha through the ideological relationship between the Gajapati kings and the Jagannath temple.

Unlike rulers in some other regions who presented themselves as divine or semi-divine figures, the kings of Odisha portrayed themselves as servants of Lord Jagannath. Kulke analysed historical texts and temple traditions that describe the king as the “Rauta” or deputy of the deity, ruling on Jagannath's behalf rather than claiming sovereignty for himself. This ideological framework created a unique relationship between religion and state authority. The temple became the symbolic centre of the kingdom, while the king acted as its earthly administrator.

Kulke’s research also highlighted the role of the Eastern Ganga dynasty, particularly during the reign of Anangabhima III in the early thirteenth century, in strengthening the institutional connection between the state and the Jagannath temple. During this period, the triad of Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Subhadra was firmly established as the central focus of the temple’s ritual system. Royal patronage ensured the expansion of temple infrastructure, ritual ceremonies, and pilgrimage networks.

By examining these developments, Kulke argued that the Jagannath temple functioned not only as a religious centre but also as a political institution that legitimised the authority of the kingdom.

Regional State Formation in Odisha

Kulke’s work on Odisha contributed significantly to broader theoretical discussions on regional state formation in South Asia. Historians studying early medieval India have long debated how regional kingdoms emerged from earlier political structures. Kulke suggested that Odisha provides a particularly illuminating case study for understanding this process.

According to his interpretation, the formation of regional states in medieval India often involved the interaction between political authority and religious institutions. Temples served as centres of economic activity, ritual authority, and social organisation. In Odisha, the Jagannath temple played a central role in integrating various communities into a shared cultural framework.

Pilgrimage routes connecting different parts of the region to Puri helped create a sense of collective belonging. Temple festivals reinforced the symbolic unity of the kingdom, while royal patronage strengthened the connection between political authority and religious devotion. Through these processes, Kulke argued, Odisha gradually developed a distinct regional consciousness, one reinforced not only by political boundaries but also by shared religious traditions and cultural practices.

Legacy and Influence

The influence of Hermann Kulke’s scholarship extends far beyond the specific subjects he studied. By situating Odisha within broader debates on religion, kingship, and regional identity, he demonstrated that the region's history offers important insights into the cultural and political development of South Asia as a whole.

Kulke’s work encouraged historians to move beyond narrow disciplinary boundaries and to adopt interdisciplinary approaches when studying complex historical traditions. His emphasis on the interaction between religion and political authority has influenced scholars studying similar processes in other parts of India and Southeast Asia.

For Odisha in particular, Kulke’s scholarship helped establish a robust academic foundation for the study of its historical traditions. His work inspired a new generation of historians, archaeologists, and anthropologists to explore the region’s past with greater analytical depth.

Here’s to A Guiding Light

The passing of Hermann Kulke marks the end of an important chapter in the global study of Odisha’s history. Few international scholars devoted as much sustained attention to the region as he did, and even fewer succeeded in reshaping its historiography so profoundly. Through his meticulous research and interdisciplinary analysis, Kulke demonstrated that Odisha’s history cannot be understood merely through temples, inscriptions, or royal chronicles. Instead, it must be examined through the lens of the dynamic interactions among religious institutions, political authority, and regional identity.

His work on the Jagannath cult revealed how a religious tradition could serve as a powerful mechanism for cultural integration. His studies on kingship showed how rulers used religious symbolism to legitimise authority. And his broader interpretations of regional state formation provided historians with new frameworks for understanding the emergence of regional identities in South Asia.

For scholars of Odisha, Hermann Kulke was not merely an external observer of the region’s past. He was a careful interpreter of its traditions, a patient reader of its historical sources, and an intellectual bridge between Odisha and the wider world of academic scholarship. His passing leaves a profound void in Odisha studies, but the ideas he developed will continue to shape historical research for generations to come.

References

Eschmann, Anncharlott; Kulke, Hermann; Tripathi, Gaya Charan. The Cult of Jagannath and the Regional Tradition of Orissa. Manohar.
Kulke, Hermann. Jagannatha Cult and Gajapati Kingship. Heidelberg University.
Kulke, Hermann; Schnepel, Burkhard. Jagannath Revisited: Studying Society, Religion and the State in Orissa. Manohar.
Mishra, K. C. The Cult of Jagannath. Firma KLM.
Mohanty, A. B. Madala Panji: The Chronicle of the Jagannath Temple.
Basham, A. L. The Wonder That Was India. Rupa.
Ray, Himanshu Prabha. Archaeology and Religion in Early South Asia. Routledge.
Mohapatra, R. P. Archaeology of Orissa.
Das, S. N. History of Orissa.
Kulke, Hermann. Kings and Cults: State Formation and Legitimation in India and Southeast Asia. Oxford University Press.