Another basis for this theory has been the observed mixing of people of Jagannath Hindu tradition contrary to the caste segregation theories popular with colonial era missionaries and Indologists. Since caste barriers never existed among devotees in Jagannath's temple, and Buddhism was believed to have been a religion that rejected caste system, colonial era Indologists and Christian missionaries such as Verrier Elwin suggested that Jagannath must have been a Buddhist deity and the devotees were a caste-rejecting Buddhist community. According to Starza, this theory is refuted by the fact that other Indic traditions did not support caste distinctions, such as the Hindu Smarta tradition founded by Adi Shankara, and the traditional feeding of the Hindus together in the region regardless of class, caste or economic condition in the memory of Codaganga. This reconciliation is also weak because Jagannath is venerated by all Hindu sects, not just Vaishnavas or a regional group of Hindus, and Jagannath has a pan-Indian influence. The Jagannath temple of Puri has been one of the major pilgrimage destination for Hindus across the Indian subcontinent since about 800 CE.