PURI AT A GLANCE:
The greatest attraction of Puri is the world famous temple of Jagannatha. It is known by many names,
viz., the Puri temple, the Srimandira, the Bada Deu1a or simply, the Jagannatha
temple.
The temple
of Jagannatha is one of the tallest
monuments in the entire sub-continent of India and its height is about 214
feet from the ground (road) level. It stands on a 'raised platform of stone,
measuring about ten acres. It. is located in the heart of the town and presents
an imposing sight. The temple is bounded by two compound walls, the outer one
known as Meghanada Pracira & the inner one known as Kurma Pracira. The
present temple was built in the 12th century A.D. The temple structure is full
of excellent carvings and lovely pieces of sculpture and is a fine specimen of
Kalinga style of architecture. It is now maintained by the Archaeological
Survey of India.
Only orthodox Hindus are allowed to enter into the Temple. But the others can see portions of
the enclosure from the top of the Emar Matha building, located near the east
facing gate of the temple.
The largest crowd in Puri is seen during the Car Festival of
Jagannatha which takes place every year some time in June-July. Jagannatha of
Puri is strikingly different from all other deities worshipped by the entire
Hindu world, mainly for the reason that Jagannatha represents all the gods and
goddesses known to the entire Hindu world, either directly or indirectly. He is
considered to be the highest object of worship by the followers of all the
religious cults that come within the purview of Hinduism. For example, he is
Siva for a Saivite, Ganapati for a Ganapatya, Kalika for a Sakta and so on and
so forth. This kind of integration of religious cults and creeds belonging to
Hinduism is not to be seen anywhere else.
Jagannatha represents an integration of all important Hindu cultures
which flourished in India, namely, the Vedic, the Puranic, the Tantric, the
Smarta and the Vaisnava, along with Jainism, Buddhism and that of the
aboriginal tribes. The Vaisnavas of all schools, i.e., Ramanuja, Nimbarka,
Caitanya or Mlidhva Goudiya, Radha Vallabhl, Atibadi Odisi - all have great
faith in Jagannatha. The Mahaprasada (the offerings to the deities in the Puri
temple) is a wonder of the Hindu world in as much as it is free from any kind
of discrimination pertaining to the castes of India. Persons of all castes do
partake Mahaprasada from the same plate without the least hesitation.
The main temple in Puri located on a gigantic raised platform.
believed to be the base of a small hill known as Nilagiri or Blue hill is
surrounded by about 30 other temples dedicated to various gods and goddesses of
the Hindu pantheon. The kitchen of the Puri temple evokes a sense of wonder in
any body from any portion of the world, who come to know of it. Within a short
notice of a few hours, the temple can lavishly feed with first-class boiled
rice & dishes of different tastes to thousands of people at a time. It is
perhaps the biggest hotel of the world.
Since the days of first Sankaracarya who visited Puri perhaps by
810 A.D. and founded the govardhana Matha, Puri has gained special significance
as one of the four dhamas of India.
It is the eastern dhama and one of the four Sankaracaryas of lndia stays
here.It is believed that, there were 752 Mathas i.e., religious endowments,
constituting institutions for the study and propagation of religious creeds in
Puri. But now, about a dozen of them deserve mention.
The second great attraction of Puri is the sea beach acclaimed to
be one of the best sea beaches of the world. A number of beach complexes have
developed on the sea at Puri & nearby. The sea at Puri is shallow and is
therefore, highly suitable for sea-bath. But on particular days of the year,
care should be taken to avoid a rush against the waves. The nolias (fisherman
of the sea) will help in taking bath in the sea. To enable thousands of people
to take bath at a time, there are four big sacred tanks in Puri. They are :-
(i) Indradyumna
(a) Narendra
(ai) Markanda
(iv) Svetaganga
The Narendra in particular
is associated with the famous Chandana Yatra of Jagannatha.Puri is an epitome
of Indian philosophy,culture and religion known as Hinduism and a visit to this
ancient city is a rewarding experience.
HISTORY OF THE DEITIES
The deities of the Puri temple are generally known as the Trimurti
(trinity) and also as Chaturdhamurti, stated in Chap-3. Some scholars think
that originally there was only image of Jagannatha as the object of worship
called Nila Madhava and when Nila Madhava disappeared, king Indradyumna
fabricated the body of Jagannatha out of a log of wood that was picked up from
the sea, as per a divine direction. Scholars suggesting that originally there,
were only two deities, cite the example of a temple found in the Cuttack district in
Orissa belonging perhaps to the seventh century A.D., where the images only of
Jagannatha and Balabhadra have been carved and Subhadra is not to be seen
there.
It is, therefore, believed that when there was a great resurgence
of Saktism from the 7th century onwards, there was a successful attempt to
instal an image of the mother goddess (Durga or Sakti) in the Puri temple by
the side of Jagannatha. According to some others, installation of the image of
Durga or Sakti, who is also known as Bhadra, Mangala etc., might have taken
place during the visit of Sankaracarya to Puri. In the Konarka temple built in
the 13th century A.D. about a century later than the Puri temple, there is a
panel of three images. Jagannatha is seen in the middle and to his left is
Durga killing demon Mahisa, while to his rjght is A linga (phallus)
representing Siva. From this, it is deduced by some scholars that this might
have been the original trio of the Puri temple, indicating the equal importance
to Vaisnavism, Saktism and Saivism. In such a case, it is deduced that
originally there was one image representing Visnu or Madhava and Siva and Durga
were added subsequently.
There is another theory that Bhadra or Mangala (Durga) came to be
called Subhadra and at the time of Vaisnavite preponderance, she was introduced
as Krisna's sister, whose name is also Subhadra. Similarly one of the names of
Siva is Virabhadra. Somehow, at a time of Vaisnavic efflorescence, he was
transformed into Balabhadra. The second half Of this name i.e., 'Bhadra' was
retained and the first half was substituted by Bala.When he was thus called
Balabhadra, he was introduced as the elder brother of Krisna.
The Puranic texts mention
that the original images of Puri consisted of Laksmi and Visnu known as
Purusottama. a twin figure. Some literary works, bear testimony to this view
too.
LEGENDARY ORIGIN OF JAGANNATHA
Originally, Jagannatha was worshipped as Nila Madhava by an
aboriginal chief secretly at this spot, while it was covered with dense forest.
It was Indradyumna, who made him a public deity. The story goes, there was a
king in Malwa in central India,
Indradyumna by name. He was a great devotee to Visnu. For those who are not
acquainted with the names of Hindu gods and goddesses, it may be stated here
that the Hindus believe in the cosmic trio namely Brahma, Visnu and Siva.
Brahma is the creator of the universe, Visnu is the sustainer and Siva is the
destroyer. Indradyumna developed in him a rather queer and eccentric desire to
see Visnu in his most perfect form on the face of the earth. He had a divine
communication in dream that Visnu could be seen in his best form in Utkala
(another name of ancient Orissa). So, he deputed Vidyapati, the brother of the
royal priest, to spot out the place where Visnu had such a manifestation and to
report his findings to him. Accordingly, Vidyapati visited Orissa and after
laborious search, came to know that Visnu known by the highly connotative name
of Nila Madhava, was being worshipped somewhere on a hill in a dense forest.
This was also an image of extraordinary lusture. Vidyapati could also know that
Nila Madhava was the family-deity of Visvavasu, a Savara (an aboriginal tribe)
chief. So great was the secrecy maintained about the location of Nila Madhava
that Visvavasu refused on request to show Vidyapati the place of his worship.
Later still, this Brahmin married Lalita, the daughter of the aboriginal chief,
but even then, he was not shown the deity. At last, at the request of his
beloved daughter, he took his son-in-law blindfolded to a cave on a hillock
where Nila Madhava was being worshipped. As Vidyapati was made to go through
the forest on foot, he could somehow manage to drop mustard seeds on the
ground. As the seeds germinated after a few days, Vidyapati could easily trace
the way to the lonely cave
of Nila Madhava.
Thereafter, Vidyapati returned to Malwa and described his
experiences to Indradyumna who immediately set out on a pilgrimage to Orissa.
But, lo ! when he reached this holy land, he found that Nila Madhava had
miraculously disappeared. When he was thus in a state of deep sorrow, he
received a divine direction to go to the sea-shore at Puri and to draw ashore a
log of wood that would be floating on the waves. From this divine log, the body
of Jagannatha, who is no other than Visnu himself, was to be fabricated in a
befitting manner. All this came to pass as per the divine indication and a log
of wood brought from the sea was ready for fabrication of the image of
Jagannatha . out of it. But there was none to be entrusted with the work, since
nobody could say that he had seen Visnu and could convince the king as to how
Visnu could be fabricated in his best form out of a log of wood. At last, Visnu
took pity on his great devotee an~ appeared before him as an old carpenter.
After some discussion, he could evoke confidence in the king about his
capabilities. As per his suggestion; it was decided that he should be allowed
to remain in a closed room with the log of wood for long twenty one days to do
the needful. He gave a severe warning that under no circumstances should he be
disturbed or the door be opened within the specified date. The story goes,
after fifteen days, Gundica, the queen, being very kind-hearted, could not
resist the temptation to persuade the king to open the door as she apprehended
that the carpenter might have died by then, as, no sound of any kind was heard
from within. Thus, when the door was opened at the king's command, no trace of
the carpenter could be found and all that could be seen was a set of four
wooden images in incomplete form, i.e., the form in which we see and worship
the images of Jagannatha, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarsana at present.
DARU BRAHMA:
Jagannatha is worshipped as Daru 'Brahma. 'Daru in Sankrit, means
wood or timber and Brahma means the all pervading soul, the universal life
force, the God of gods. It has been said earlier that the idol of Jagannatha is
made of a log of wood. It is the margosa tree, the trunk of which is used to
fabricate the body of Jagannatha. But it is not merely this log of wood or the
image that is worshipped with so much of reverence. What is known as Brahma in
Jagannatha is something unseen: that is there in his body. In that part of the
log of wood which represents the substance of the image, there is a cavity
wherein a casket containing something unknown has been kept. Thus, that Daru or
the wooden image containing this Brahma is called Daru Brahma.
The Puri temple had been attacked many a time and the accounts may
be read in the pages of history, the property of Jagannatha was looted. The
images on most occasions were carried to distant places underground through
forests. But the Brahma placed within the images remained untouched by the
enemies and were thus saved from desecration.
There are many theories
about this unseen thing called Brahma. Some say it is a tooth of Buddha. Others
say, it is an image of Vishnu made of some precious Slone. Some others hold
that it is a very rare variety of Salagrama Sila (a piece of stone generally
black in color, worshipped as the representative image of Visnu). But the
fourth view is very important. We are told on the basis of ,poetical works
written in Orissa about five centuries ago, which again is based on popular
traditions that a piece of the bone of Krisna incarnation, who was cremated by
the Pandavas after he was killed by Jara Savara and some portions of whose body
did not catch fire and therefore remained unburnt, is there in a casket in the
body of Jagannatha. Those who want lo know more may contact the scholars on the
subject.
Accommodation
The
Jagannath Temple Administration, keeping in mind
the needs of the devotees, has come up with “Nilachal Bhakta Nivas” a brand new
guest house.
Right
on the Grand Road
and adjacent to the temple, the guest house has great locational advantages. It
is only minutes away from the railway station, bus stop and the beach. The
guesthouse offers 26 modern equipped A/C. Rooms and 2 nos. of VIP Suits, 24
hours hot & cold water, with TV. Other facilities include round the clock
service, lift, banking, power backup and well managed security system.
