Juggernaut
mid 19th century: extension of Juggernaut.
wiktionary
(17th century) From Hindustani Hindi जगन्नाथ(jagannāth)/Oriya ଜଗନ୍ନାଥ(jôgônnathô)/ Urdu جگنّاتھ (jagannāth), from Sanskrit जगन्नाथ(jagannātha, “lord of the universe”) (Jagannath), a title for the Hindu deity Vishnu's avatar Krishna. English form influenced by suffix -naut(“sailor”). Doublet of Jagannath.
From British colonial era in India, witnessing the Rath Yatra (chariot parade) at Puri, Orissa. The festival features a huge annual procession, with a wagon of the idol of Jagannath. Pulled with ropes by hundreds of devotees, the wagon develops considerable momentum and becomes unstoppable.
etymonline
juggernaut (n.)
"an idea, custom, fashion, etc., that demands either blind devotion or merciless sacrifice," 1854, a figurative use of Juggernaut, 1630s (Iaggernat), "huge wagon bearing an image of the god Krishna," especially that at the town of Puri, drawn annually in procession during which (apocryphally) devotees allowed themselves to be crushed under its wheels in sacrifice. Altered from Jaggernaut, a title of Krishna (an incarnation of Vishnu), from Hindi Jagannath, literally "lord of the world."
This is from Sanskrit jagat "the world, men and beasts" (literally "the moving, all that moves," present participle of *jagati "he goes" (from PIE root *gwa- "to go, come") + natha-s "lord, master," from nathate "he helps, protects," from PIE root *nā- "to help." The first European description of the festival is by Friar Odoric (c. 1321).
