The term juggernaut is used to describe any literal or metaphorical force regarded as unstoppable; that will crush all in its path. In Britain, it is also used to refer to any large and heavy lorry.

The word is derived from a title for the Hindu deity Vishnu avatar Krishna, the Sanskrit Jagannāth, meaning "lord of the world". One of the most famous of temples in India is the Jagannath Temple in Puri, Orissa, which has the Ratha Yatra (chariot procession), an annual procession of chariots carrying the murtis/statues of Jagannâth (Lord Krishna), Subhadra and Balabhadra. During the British colonial era, Christian missionaries promulgated a myth that Hindu devotees of Krishna were lunatic fanatics who threw themselves under the wheels of these chariots in order to attain salvation. While it is a fact that devotees have sometimes been crushed in the gigantic crowds who assemble for the yearly chariot procession festival of Jagannatha, the government officers and temple priests managing the festival take elaborate precautions to protect people from injury during these chariot processions.

See also

List of English words of Sanskrit origin

---

The Juggernaut is a comic book character in the fictional Marvel Universe.

---

Author Alfred Elton van Vogt published a short story named "Juggernaut" in 1944. It's about a strange piece of metal which materialises in a man's room and subsequently causes the downfall of Earth's economy (as far as I can remember - I lost the book which held the story).