PRIME ATTRACTION
Reigning Deity: Lord Jagannatha
Main Attractions: Lord Jagannatha Temple, Puri Beach & Gundicha Mandir
Significance: One of the four holiest points of pilgrimage for Hindus
Narasimha Temple
This temple is located next to the Gundicha Temple. There are two Deities
of Lord Narasimha, one behind the other. The Deity in front is called "Santa
Narasimha" (sober). Anyone who sees this Deity will be cooled down;
all his anger, frustration and anxiety will vanish.
The Deity in the back is called "Raga Narasimha" (anger) he is
the internal mood of Narasimha. When the Muslim 'Kalapahad' attacked
Puri and was breaking the
Deities, he saw Santa Narasimhadeva and his anger subsided; hence he could
not break the Deity as he had planned. Santa Narasimha's features are
human-like. He has a sharp human nose, large, curly mustache, and an
outstretched tongue.
Lord Chaitanya took 'darsana' here during his Gundicha pastimes. Lord
Chaitanya rested near this temple after cleaning the Gundicha Temple.
Non-Hindus are not allowed in the temple, but one can see the Deities
standing by the door.
Haridasa
Thakura's Samadhi
The Samadhi temple of Haridasa Thakura, the Nama-Acharya (teacher of the
chanting the holy names) is located by the beach in the "Swarga Dwara"
area near the "Purusottama Gaudiya Math". Within the temple, the
chapel structure is Haridasa Thakura's samadhi. There is a very nice
painting of Haridasa Thakura in the samadhi. On the center alter is a
wooden Deity of Lord Chaitanya, on the right altar, Lord 'Nityananda' and
on the left, Advaita Acarya.
Sri Chaitanya gave a benediction saying, "Anyone who has chated and
danced here at Haridasa Thakura's samadhi will achieve the favor of
Krishna very soon. There is such wonderful power in seeing Haridasa
Thakura."
Residence of Haridasa Thakura
Siddha Bakula is the "Bhajan-Kutir" of Haridasa Thakura, where
he chanted 300,000 names of God daily. In order to provide shade for
Thakura Haridasa, Sri Chaitanya planted a toothpick used by Lord
Jagannatha. All of a sudden it grew up and appeared as a great shade tree.
Rupa Goswami recited "Lalita Madhava" and "Vidagdha Madhava"
before Sri Chaitanya and his followers under the tree here. During his
stay in Puri, Santana Goswami
lived here with Haridasa Thakura. This is considered a very holy spot for
the "Gaudiya Vaisnavas", as this where left his body and where,
after his departure, Sri Chaitanya carried his body while dancing in
ecstasy.
Sri Haridasa-Sadbhuj Temple
About a hundred feet away in the same compound of the residence of
Haridasa Thakura is the Sri Haridasa-Sadbhuj Temple. There is a "Sadbhuj-Murti"
(six-armed form) of Lord Chaitanya on the altar. Beside this Deity is Lord
Nityananda on one side and on the other side a shorter Advaita Acharya. A
'Murti' of Haridasa Thakura is in front, to the side of the main altar.
There is also a Deity of Lord 'Narasimhadeva'.
Gambhira
Gambhira is located close to Siddha Bakula. There is a sign over the door
that says "Shri Radhakanta Math, Gambhira." It is about half a
km from the Lion Gate going toward Swarga Dwara or the ocean. On the left
of the entrance is a small temple with Deities of 'Radhakanta' (Krishna),
'Lalita' and 'Vishaka'. Radhakanta were worshiped by Gopalaguru Goswami,
the disciple of Vakreswara Pandita. On the far right is Lord 'Gauranga'
and on the far left is Nityananda.
This is the former house of 'Kasi Misra'. One can look through a small
barred window into the room called "Sri Gambhira". This is the
room where Sri Chaitanya lived. There is a lamp here that remains always
lit and never goes out. One can see Sri Chaitanya's original wooden
sandals, His quilt, water pot, and bed. Sri Chaitanya lived for 12 years
in this room. On a marble throne, a cloth encircles the 'Murti' of Sri
Chaitanya, so that just His face is visible. Upstairs there are dioramas
of the life of Sri Chaitanya.
Sarvabhauma
Bhattacarya's House
This house is about one-half kilometre south of the "Simha-Dwara"
(main gate) of the Jagannatha Temple. If one walks out of the Jagannatha
Temple, turn right and follow the road toward Swarga-Dwara. Go past the
first right, which goes around the temple, and then walk about another
100m and make the next right to Sweta Ganga Tank.
"Sarvabhauma's House", better known as "Gangamata Math",
is on the left. There are Radha-Krishna Deities called "Radha-Rasikaraja"
in this house, which are said to have been worshiped by 'Sarvabhauma
Bhattacharya'. Inside there are paintings of devotional scenes all over
the walls. The black wooden sandals are said to have belonged to
Sarvabhauma. There is a hidden tunnel in the house, which is said to lead
in two directions- to the sea and to the Jagannatha Temple. It is said
that Sri Chaitanya used this tunnel.
Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura's Birthplace
It is located about 1-km from the Jagannatha Temple on Grand Road. There
is a Gaudiya Math temple here with Jagannatha Deities and a Murti of
Bhaktisiddhanta Maharaja. There are also Murtis of the heads of the four "Vaishnava
Sampradayas" - 'Vishnuswami', 'Madhvacharya', 'Nimbarka', and
'Ramanuja'.
Jagannatha Vallabha Gardens
Sri Chaitanya used to meet here with 'Ramananda Raya'. Ramananda Raya
used to train girls here to dance for the pleasure of Lord Jagannatha.
There are three altars in the 'Jagannatha Vallabha temple'. On one altar
there are large Deities of Lord Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Lady Subhadra.
On the middle altar there are Deities of Lord Chaitanya (in saffron) and
Ramananda Raya (in white). On the third altar are Radha-Krishna.
This place is about one km from the
Jagannatha
temple on Grand Road. Non-Hindus cannot enter the temple, but can
walk around some of the gardens. There is also a small lake here.
Tota
Gopinatha Temple
Gaudiya Vaisnavas accept that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ended His
manifested pastimes in Jagannatha Puri by entering into the knee of the
Tota Gopinatha Deity. On the far left altar is Lord Balarama and His two
wives, 'Revati' and 'Varuni'. On the middle altar is Tota Gopinatha,
accompanied by black Deities of 'Radha' and 'Lalita'. Tota Gopinatha is in
a sitting position. On the right altar are the Deities of 'Radha-Madana
Mohan' and 'Gaura Gadadhar' used to worship Tota Gopinatha regularly as
per Sri Chaitanya's personal instructions.
This temple is located by a large white water tower in the Gaurbat Sahi
area. It is five minutes walk from the 'Chatak Parbat Purushottam Gaudiya
Math temple'. The sign on the door says "Shree Tota Gopinathjee,"
and there are two stone lions by the door.
Chatak Parbat Gaudiya Math
This temple is in the area where Sri Chaitanya mistook the sand dune
hills to be 'Goverdhana' Hill. The Bhajana-Kutir of 'Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta' Maharaja is here, as well as his bed. One will also find
a Murti of 'Veda-Vyasa' in the Bhajana-Kutir.
This temple is by a big white water tower, about a 10-minute walk from
Haridasa Thakura's samadhi.
Narendra Sarovara
This is a large tank. There is a small temple, on an island about a
hundred feet into the tank, with Deities of Lord Jagannatha, Baldeva, and
Subhadra. Directly behind Lord Jagannatha is a deitty of 'Yasoda', the
mother of Krishna. At the other end of the temple room is a Deity of
Lakshmi. Also on the island is a 'Shiva-Linga' temple and a Deity of Bala
Krishna.
This is where the boat festival called
"Chandana-Yatra"
is held during which Lord Jagannatha goes for a boat ride. Since Lord
Jagannatha is very heavy, the 'Vijaya Vigraha' (festival deity), known as
'Govinda', rides in the boat. Sri Chaitanya and His devotees took part in
this festival. It is located off Grand Road, on the same side as the
Jagannatha
Temple .
Paramananda Puri's Well
Sri Chaitanya told all the devotees that this well water is the same as
Ganges water and a person who drinks it or bathes in it would certainly
develop pure love of Godhead. It is a five-minute walk behind the West
gate of the Jagannatha Temple. It is located on Lokanatha Rasta, inside
the gate of the Baselisahi Out Post (policemen's residence).
Indradyumna Sarovara
This water tank is about a half-km from the Gundicha Temple. Water to
clean the Gundicha Temple is brought from this 'Kunda'. Sri Chaitanya
engaged in water sports with his intimate associates in this tank.
Balagandhi
This is the place where Lord Jagannatha stops His chariot to accept a
massive 'bhoga' offering. There is a temple on the right side of the main
road marking the spot, about a km down from the Lion Gate (Main Gate) on
the way to Gundicha Temple.
Alalantha
Alalantha is also known as Brahmagiri. It is about 25-km from Jagannatha
Puri, close to the beach. There is a temple of Lord Jagannatha here and a
large stone slab marked with the impression of Sri Chaitanya's
transcendental body. The stone melted while the Lord lay there in ecstasy.
Anyone can view the stone, but non-Hindus cannot enter the temple.
Sri Chaitanya would often come here during the two weeks when Lord
Jagannatha remains in seclusion before the
Ratha-Yatra
festival. At the rear of the dome of the temple is an inset sculpture of
Narasimha, with 'Hiranyakashipu' on His lap. There is also a sculpture of
Lord 'Vamana' piercing the outer shell of the universe.
When one comes here one can also visit Ramananda Raya's house in a place
called "Benta Pura", which is a few km away, near a rice mill.
It is in a small village on the way back to Puri. There is a Deity of Lord
Chaitanya with a shaven head, with Ramananda Raya seated beside Him in
saffron robes.
One can get to the Alalantha temple by catching a mini-bus at the back of
Narendra-Sarovara, to Brahmagiri. It takes about an hour to get there.
Atharanala Bridge
This bridge is at the entrance of Puri. It has 18 arches. "Athara"
means 18. " When all the devotees coming from Bengal arrived at the
bridge, Lord Chaitanya sent two garlands with Govinda to offer to Lord
Nityananda and Advaita Acharya." This bridge is symbolic of the
emotion of arriving or departing from Jagannatha Puri.
The present bridge is an addition, constructed directly on top of the
original brick bridge. One can see the temple 'Chakra' from it.
ISKCON
There are two ISKCON centers in Jagannatha Puri. One is located in the
Swarga Dwara area by Haridasa Thakura's samadhi. This is where
Bhaktivinode Thakura's had his Bhajana Kutir. A temple and a guesthouse
are being built there.
There is another ISKON center, located about 5-km from the Swarga Dwara
area past the Hans Coco Palms Hotel. The land itself is very nice and "Gaura-Nitai"
Deities are installed there. However, there are very few facilities
available for pilgrims as of January 1996.
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