Jagannath Temple is one of the most famous temple of India dedicated to Lord Jagannath form of Lord Vishnu. Temple is located in Puri town of Puri District and also known as Jagannath Puri in the Orissa State of India. It is one of the holiest dham in the most sacred yatra of Char Dham . The temple is famous for its annual Rath Yatra, or chariot festival, in which the three main temple deities are hauled on huge and elaborately decorated temple cars. Temple have three dieties Jagannath, Balabhadra and the goddess Subhadra . The temple of Jagannatha is one of the tallest monuments in the entire. sub-continent of India and its height is about 214 feet from the ground (road) level. The main temple in Puri located on a gigantic raised platform. believed to be the base of a small hill known as Nilagiri or Blue hill is surrounded by about 30 other temples dedicated to various gods and goddesses of the Hindu pantheon.

Historic Importance

There is trace of the three deities in Jagannath temple Jagannatha, Balabhadra and Subhadra worshiped here. Legends believes that Jagannatha is as old as Humanity . Puranas like Skanda Purana, the Brahma Purana ,Narada Purana and Epics like Ramayana and the Mahabharata also have the shrine mentioned . It is believed that the King Indradyumna made out the idols of the three deities of the wood of the divine tree and installed them in the temple.

Jagannath Puri Temple

Jagannath Temple main deities are Jagannath, Balabhadra and the goddess Subhadra which are made up of sacred Neem tree logs known as Daru Brahma. The Temple walls are pierced by four gates ,facing the four directions. East Gate is called as Lion Gate , North as Elephant Gate , South as Horse Gate and West gate is called as Tiger Gate . The north gate is mainly meant for the God himself in as much as, the logs of wood out of which, the images are fabricated, make their entry into the temple premises through this gate, when the Navakelevara ceremony takes place. The east-facing Lions Gate is the main gate. Jagannath puri is one of the four sacred Chardham pilgrimage followed by Badrinath Temple at Badrinath , Ramanathaswamy Temple at Rameswaram, Dwarakadheesh Temple at Dwarka.

The temple stands on a high pedestal though a major portion of it is buried in the ground and covers an area of 400,000 square feet. The temple compound contains about 120 other temples and shrines. The architectural style of the templke of temple is Oriya style and glorifies as one of the most magnificient temples of India . Tempple has four main sections namely

• Garbha Griha or Sanctum Sanctroum
• Mukhashala or Frontal Porch
• Audience Hall or Natamandapa
• Bhoga Mandapa or Offerings hall

The temple’s kitchen is considered as the largest kitchen in the world. The food cooked here are according to the ancient Hindu text and purely vegetarain which is supervised by Goddess Mahalaxmi .It is said that if the food prepared has any fault in it a shadow dog appears near the temple kitchen. The temple cooks or Mahasuaras take this as a sign of displeasure of Mahalakshmi with the food which is promptly buried and a new batch cooked .There are many festivals celebrated in the temple in which most important festival is the Rath Yatra or the Chariot festival in June.

Daily Worship Timings

Puri Places to See

• Singahdwara– Means Lions Gate is one of the four temple gates and is the main entrance of the temple. There are two huge statues of crouching lions exist on either side of the entrance.
• Puri Beach– Puri beach is located Puri City in Orrisa. It is located on the shore of Bay of Bengal and is known fro tourist attraction and Hindu sacred place. Located about 2 km from Puri railway Station.

Puri Excursions

• Konark Sun Temple – Konark temple is located about 14 km from Jagannath Temple and is one of the mpost majestic architectural temple of India . Also known as Black Pagoda. The Sun Temple, built in the thirteenth century, was conceived as a gigantic chariot of the Sun God, with twelve pairs of exquisitely ornamented wheels pulled by seven horses.
• Chandrabhaga Beach– Chandrabhaga Beach located about 3 km from famous Konark Sun temple is great tourist place and pilgrimage stop pint to enjoy the beach.

How To Reach Jagannath Puri Temple

Jagannath Puri is located at the heart of Puri District in Orrisa and the best way to reach here is via train. There are various trains from different part of the country to Orrisa. Orrisa is well connected via road and railway lines.

By Air – One can reach Puri temple via Bhubaneshwar Aiport which is well connected with other major cities of India . Many flights from airport connects the capital city to other cities of India like Kolkata, Delhi, Raipur, Hyderabad, Varanasi, Mumbai and Chennai.

By Train – Coming with train is an enjoyable journey and and comfortable too . Bhubaneshwar Railway Station is the main railway station of the state that is connected to various cities of India via rail network . Some of the convenient services are offered by Rajdhani, Konarak Express, Coromondal Express that serves Orissa . There are many other railway station in the state like Puri Railway Station , Hirakud Railway Station , Rourkela Railway Station , Barang Railway Station and many more .

By Road– Orrisa have extensive road network that connect Puri with many major cities of Orissa and other states . National Highway 5, 6, 23, 42 and 43 runs through the state which allows easy access to the pilgrimage and tourist . There are many private tour operators that arrange darshans for Jagannath temple and state govt buses run in regular intervals from various destination to Puri town.