PURI
Reigning Deity: Lord Jagannatha
Main Attractions: Lord Jagannatha Temple, Puri Beach & Gundicha Mandir
Significance: One of the four holiest points of pilgrimage for Hindus
The holy city of Puri is located 60-km from
Bhubaneswar
on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. It is one of the four holy dhamas of
India - Puri, Dwarka, Rameswaram and
Badrinath . It
is considered that a pilgrimage of the temples of India is not complete
without making the journey to Puri.
Popularly
Known As
Puri is called "Sri Purusottama Dham" or "Martya Vaikuntha",
the abode of Lord Vishnu on earth. Other names are "Sriksetra"
(best of all sacred centers), "Purusottama Ksetra" (the abode of
the supreme being), "Nilachal", "Nalagiri", "Sankha
Ksetra", and "Jagannatha Dhama". Puri is about 2-km wide
and 4-km long.
The
Jagannatha
Temple or Jagannath temple here is one of the major temples in
India. The worship of Lord Jagannatha is so ancient that there is no idea
how long. He has been worshiped. The Lord has had many temples before the
present one.
Sri Ramanuja visited Puri between 1107 and 1117 century AD and stayed for
some time. Vishnu Swami visited Puri in the second half of the 12th
century and established a 'Matha' near 'Markandeswar' Tank, called "Vishnuswami
Matha". Nimbarka Acharya also made a pilgrimage to Puri, and Srila
Prabhupada visited in January 1977.
A major reason that Puri is so important to the "Gaudiya Vaishnavas"
is because Lord Chaitanya spent so much time here. Many of His pastimes
with His most intimate associated\s took place at different sites in this
area.
Non-Hindus cannot enter the Jagannatha temple. This is strictly enforced.
Besides being an important holy town Puri also has one of the best
beaches for swimming in India. It is one of the most visited places in
India by young foreign tourist. It is a very pleasant place.
PRIME ATTRACTIONS
Lord
Jagannatha Temple
The
temple
of Lord Jagannatha or Jagannath temple ('Lord of the Universe') at
Puri is one of the most sacred pilgrimage spots in India, one of the four
abodes ('Dhamas') of the divine that lie on the four directions of the
compass. The present temple structure was built in the 12th century by the
'Ganga' King 'Choda Ganga Deva', replacing an earlier structure, which
probably dated to the 10th century.
Until recently, almost the entire temple was covered in white plaster, so
much so that European sailors in previous centuries used it as a
navigation point, referring to it as the "White Pagoda" in
contrast to the "Black Pagoda" of
Konark , further
up the coast.
Gundicha Mandir (Temple)
This temple is located at the end of Grad road (the main road) about 3-km
northeast of the
Jagannatha
temple . At the time of the
'Ratha-Yatra'
festival , Lord Jagannatha goes to the Gundicha temple and stays
there for one week. After one week He returns to His original temple. It
is said that the wife of 'Indradyumna', the king who originally
established the temple of Jagannatha, was known as "Gundicha".
The cleansing of the Gundicha temple takes place the day before the
Ratha-Yatra festival as mentioned in "Chaitanya-Caritamrita".
Non-Hindus can walk within the walls and see the beautiful garden, but
they are not allowed in the temple building.
