Shashank Chouhan
The sacred temple of Lord Jagannath stands on the hillock Blue Mountain in the heart of Puri. It represents a lovely picturesque scheme of great Orissan Architecture. Puri, on the east coast of India is a hoary pilgrimage center, enshrining Lord Jagannath, in a colossal temple. It is the forerunner of the Jagannath cult in Orissa, which saw the flowering of several temples dedicated to Jagannath all over the state
Shashank ChouhanPuri is located on the gentle slope of the Nila hill, adjacent to the sea. A sacred banyan tree is revered as a manifestation of Vishnu, the ocean - Balarama and a pool- the king Indradyumna. Pilgrims are required to offere worship first at a Shiva temple, and then at the banyan tree and then at the shrine to Balarama before proceding to worship Jagannath. Subhadra is to be worshipped next.
The Jagannath trinity as known from the sculptural representation on the walls of the sub temple of Konark. It was regarded as the synthesis of Purusottama, Shiva and Durga during the Ganga Period. It was at the time of the rule of Bhanu Deva II the Purusottam was regarded as Jagannath by the Ganga rulers and the name become popular after Kapilendra Gajapati in 1435 A. D.
Within the Temple, Ratna Singhasana is enshrined with four Idols of Lords Jagannath, Balabhadra, Devi Subhdara and Chakraraj Sudarshan along with metal made Bhudevi and Sridevi. The Representative Idol of Lord Jagnnath named Madan Mohan is worshipped in the South side of Temple upon Mukti Mandap and in front of the Nursingha Temple. Besides, in and around the Lord Jagannath Temple Bedha (Boundary) houes the Lords Patitapaban, mahavir near Singhadwar and Lrod viswanath of the starting point of Baisi Pahacha (22 steps). According to belief, all sins of the pilgrims disappear who touch these steps even once.
The inner portion of the Temple is also enshrined with Idols of Lords Agnidev, Satyanaryan, Radhakrishna, Harisahadev, Jagannath, Ganesh, Kalpabata, Mangala, Markandeya, Kanchiganesh, in the western side Ananta Basudeva, Nursingh, Bimala, Gopinath, Kamala, Savitri, Sasthi, Saraswati, Nilamadhaba, Kali, Mahalakshmi, Nabagraha, Suryadev, Ram, Sita, Pataleswar, in the North side Sitala,
Temple Architecture
The vast temple complex occupies an area of over 400,000 sq ft, and is bounded by a 20 ft high fortified wall. This complex contains about 120 temples and shrines. The shikhara of the Jagannath temple towers to a height of 192 ft. The red flag denotes that Jagannath is within the building.
