Shri Jagannath Temple

The Temple of Lord Jagannath (Lord of the Universe) built during the 12th century A.D. by Chodaganga Deva dominates the landscape for kilometers around. Being the tallest temple (65 metres) in Orissa, it is one of the most magnificent pieces of monuments of India. Puri is the forerunner of the Jagannath cult in Orissa, which saw the flowering of several temples dedicated to Jagannath all over the state. Puri – the ancient shrine, enshrining Krishna - Jagannath in the form of a wooden image, also enshrines wooden images of Balabhadra (Balarama) and Subhadra brother and sister of Krishna respectively. The Aruna Stamba is in front of the main gate of Jagannath Temple. Carrying on the top of the stamba is the figure of Aruna the charioteer of Sun God.

The history of the present temple goes back to about 12th century A.D. when the founder King of the Ganga Dynasty, King Chodaganga Deva began it’s construction. King Anangabhima Deva finished the construction. Records indicate that the temple existed in one form or the other since ancient times sometimes patronized by the Kings ruling Orissa at the time and sometimes having been neglected. It was from the times of the Ganga Kings that the temple received patronage. The King acknowledged Lord Jagannath as the actual ruler of the kingdom and he was his deputy. Over the years, the royal worship continued until the invading Afghans defeated the Orissa Kings and plundered the temple in the 16th Century. The temple priests saved the deities from the invaders and preserved them. Often the Muslim Moghuls invaded the temple, worship stopped and again it was restored. However, the advent of the Imperial British East India Company and its successor British rule by the crown again brought the temple Management under stress. However, to the credit of the British it must be said that they respected the right to worship of the Hindus at Jagannath and indirectly allowed patronage. They recognized Jagananth Puri's King of Orissa (Gajapati Maharaj) as the Superintendent of the Temple and granted some revenue rights and privileges to the temple to run its affairs. Even before one enters Puri, this 65-metre high temple makes its presence felt. On the Nilgiri Hill stands the temple built by Chodaganga, to commemorate the shifting of his capital from South to Central Orissa. A 20-foot high wall surrounds it. A traditional porch, shrine, hall of offerings and a pillared hall of dance, form the rest of this temple. The remarkable feature about this temple, since its early beginnings, is that there has been no discrimination, ever, between castes. There is no caste distinction and all are welcome before the Lord Jaggannath but non-hindus are not allowed inside the shrine. They can have a fair view of the inside of the temple from the nearby roof of the Raghunandan library, opposite the main gate of the shrine.

Contemporaneous with the Lingaraj Temple of Bhubaneswar, the Puri temple is the result of the same mature Orissan style of architecture, but is greater in height. The temple is an extraordinary world in itself, consisting of thousands of different categories of priests, their assistants, attendants and pilgrim guides. The Raja of Puri heads this huge army of over 6000 priests etc., and 14000 other employees waiting on Lord Jaggannath. He alone has the privilege of sweeping before the, Chariots and to carry Lord Jaggannath's umbrella. In the sanctum sanctorum (Garbhagriha ) there are a strange archaic type of wooden images of Sri Jaggannath, his sister Subhadra and brother Balbhadra. Subhadra’s image is in between her two brothers and smaller in size. The temple kitchen is said to be the biggest in the world feeding thousands of devotees daily with, its holy food called the Mahaprasad.

Puri offers a number of colourful fairs and festivals such as Chandan Yatra, Snan Yatra (Bath festival), Ganesh Puja, etc., but it is the Car Festival (Rath Yatra ) that marks the climax - an annual sojourn of the three deities riding their lofty chariots to their respective huge cars. These chariots or Rathas are pulled along the Bada Danda by lakhs of devotees to Gundicha temple over a kilometre. At Gundicha the deities take new apparels every day and after a lapse of 8 days return to the main shrine riding the same Rathas. At the termination of the Yatra, the cars are broken up into pieces and religious relics are made from them. The images of the deities are also disposed of at intervals depending on astrological calculations. Thus, every year new chariots are built and new images are installed as prescribed in the religious text. The Rath Yatra symbolizes Krishna's departure to Mathura from Gokul.

The English word " Juggernaut " is obviously derived from this Car Festival. In ancient days some devotees would throw themselves beneath the wheels of the Chariot in the belief that such an act of piety involving Lord's blessings would send them straight to heaven. The temple is truly an institution unique in the world.

Jagannath Puri is situated on the sea coast of Bay Of Bengal in Orissa. It is 60 kms. away from Bhubaneshwar. The majestic ancient temple of Lord Jagannath is situated in the middle of the Jagannath Puri.