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Puri Information
Puri forms an important holiday destination of the golden triangle of the Eastern India besides Bhunbaneshwar and Konark.
The sacred city of Puri is at a distance of 60-km from Bhubaneswar . It comprises of one of the four holy dhamas of Hindus, the other three being Puri, Dwarka, Rameswaram and Badrinath. For the followers of Hinduism the pilgrimage of the temples across India is not complete without making the journey to Puri. The pulsating city is situated on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. Earlier the port city it is said to have sent shiploads of devotees, carrying the messages of Lord Buddha for Java, Sumatra and the Phillipines. This fact answers the co-existence of the various maths and monasteries in the city. The visit to many of these will bring peace to your mind and soul.
What to See?
Lord Jagannath Temple
The temple of Lord Jagannath ('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 twelfth century by the Ganga king, Chodagangadeva, replacing an earlier structure which probably dated to the tenth century. Long before one reaches Puri, the 214 feet (65 meters) spire of the temple can be seen towering over the countryside. This visual dominance is symbolic of the influence which the temple commands over almost every aspect of life in Puri. The huge temple compound, each side of which measures 650 feet (some 200 meters), is surmounted with a 20 foot (6 meters) wall. Within the compound is a city, or, more accurately, a universe unto itself. With 6000 direct temple servitors, a temple kitchen which feeds 10,000 people daily (and some 25,000 on festival days), and a central deity who has become the focus of religious life throughout Orissa, the Jagannath temple is truly an institution unique in the world. Source: Indian Tourism Information |
