JEGANNATH TEMPLE
AT
PURI
The Jagannath temple of Puri is located on the eastern coast of India,at Puri in the State of Odissa.
The Puri temple is built on
a gigantic raised platform in the heart of the city, The temple complex is
enclosed by a wall about seven meters high -including the 0 height of the
platform. The area of this platform is more than 4,20,000 sq.ft.
Jagannath Temple
in Odisha (Orissa) consists of four entrance gates. They are named as
Singhadwara, Ashwadwara, Hathidwara and Vyaghradwara and these names refer to
lion, horse, elephant and tiger.
The temple complex
is surrounded by a wall, on each side of which is a gopura or gate, over which
rises a pyramid-shaped roof. Being the largest temple in the state, it has a
complex covering several square blocks with dozens of structures including a
mammoth kitchen.
The
name Jagannath literally means the Lord of the Universe. King Indradyumna first
established the temple of Lord Jagannath here on the Nilachala hill with the
Deity being installed by Lord Brahma himself.
jagannatha is not the only
deity worshipped in the temple, though it is known as the 'Jagannatha Temple'.
But along with Jagannatha, two others namely, Balabhadra, and Subhadra are also
worshipped here.
These three, constitute the basic and
fundamental Trinity and are considered to be the forms and manifestations of
the omni-present, omni-scient and omni-potent supreme power.
Sudarsan who is supposed to
be the fourth important divine manifestation is also worshipped with the
celebrated trio and these four are known as the Caturdha murti or the four-fold
divine images.Besides, Madhava, a replica of Jagannatha, Sridevi and Bhudevi
are also installed in the sanctum sanctorum and worshipped.
By Air
Nearest
airport to Puri is Bhubaneshwar's Biju Patnaik airport, at a
distance of nearly 60 kilometres. Daily flights connect this airport with major
Indian cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Vishakhapatnam.
By Train
Puri is a terminus on the
East Coast Railway having direct express and super fast train links with New
Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Okha, Ahmedabad, Tirupati etc. Some important trains
are Kolkata (Howrah) Puri Howrah Express, Jagannath Express; New Delhi;
Purushottam Express. Khurda Road Station, 44 km, from Puri is convenient rail
head for train to Chennai and Western India.
By Road
The bus stand near the
Gundicha Temple provides connections to Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, service every
10-15 minutes. Minibuses to Konark leave every 20-30 minutes and also from
Jatiababa Chhak. There are direct buses for Kolkata and Visakhapatnam.
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