Shree Jagannatha Temple, Puri

The administration publishes the ritual day in full and, separately, the windows in which darshan is and is not available. The second list is the one a visitor needs.

Puri was sacred long before the present temple. The Skanda Purana has a section in praise of Purushottama Kshetra, as Puri was known, and an 11th-century play already mentions a shrine of Purushottama there. Temple tradition, recorded in the Madala Panji chronicle, credits a legendary King Indradyumna with building the first temple.

The present temple is universally accepted as the work of King Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva, founder of the Eastern Ganga dynasty, in the 12th century. The temple administration records that although construction was almost complete in his reign, it was left unfinished for a long time, and Anangabheema Deva III completed it in 1230 and installed the deities. Anangabheema regarded Jagannatha as the true ruler of his empire and called himself the deity's subordinate, an attitude later Ganga kings kept up.

In 1568 the Afghan general Kalapahar attacked the temple after the defeat of the Gajapati ruler Mukunda Deva. The treasury was looted, and the wooden images of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra were taken out and burned. Ramachandra Deva I of Khurda re-established worship and commissioned new images, which were installed in 1575, the first Nabakalevara. The Madala Panji records that the temple was invaded 18 times in all.

The temple was declared a National Monument in 1975, and under an agreement of 22 August 1979 its conservation was entrusted to the Archaeological Survey of India.

Built

12th century; completed 1230

Architecture

Kalinga style, Pancharatha rekha deula

Height

65 m (214 ft)

Site

About 10 acres

National Monument

Declared in 1975

Pilgrimage

One of the four Char Dhams

Why Jagannath Temple Puri matters to Hindus

Puri is one of the four Dhams, the most sacred pilgrimage places for Hindus, alongside Badrinath, Dwarka and Rameswaram. The temple administration notes that Adi Shankaracharya named these four and installed his senior disciple, Padmapada, as the first head of the Govardhan Peeth at Puri. Scriptures such as the Skanda Purana describe Puri as the very body of the Lord, and the town also carries names such as Shankha-kshetra, Neelachala and Martya-Vaikuntha.

The deities are Jagannath, a form of Vishnu identified with Krishna, his elder brother Balabhadra and their sister Subhadra, with Sudarshan. Unlike the stone or metal images of most Hindu temples, they are carved from neem wood and are replaced in the Nabakalebara ritual. Many Vaishnava saints were closely associated with the temple, among them Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya, Nimbarkacharya and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who lived in Puri for many years. The poet Jayadeva's Gitagovinda is sung before Jagannatha, and the temple's food offerings, the Mahaprasad, are all vegetarian and cooked without onion or garlic.

More facts about Jagannath Puri

Deities

Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra

Where

Puri, Odisha

Administered by

Shree Jagannath Temple Administration

Main tower

65 metres (214 ft) above the inner sanctum

Four gates

Singhadwara or Lion Gate facing east, Hathidwara north, Vyaghradwara south and Ashwadwara west

Ratha Yatra

The deities travel to the Gundicha Temple about 3 km away, returning on the concluding day, Niladri Bije

Jagannath's chariot

Approximately 14 metres (45 ft) high and 11 metres (35 ft) wide

Kitchen

The second largest in the world, preparing fifty-six varieties, all vegetarian and without onions or garlic

Also known as

Shree Jagannatha Temple, Puri Jagannath Temple, Jagannath Mandir, Shri Mandir

The entry rule at Puri is the strictest of any temple on this site, and it is the first thing to establish before booking travel.

The administration publishes no dress code on the pages this site reads. What it does publish is a strict list of what may not come in.

• Shoes, sandals and leather articles are not allowed inside the temple. Free stands are provided at Lion's Gate.
• Cameras and mobile phones are not allowed inside the temple.
• No dress code is published by the administration on the pages this site reads.

The single most important date to plan around is the Anasara period. After the Snana Yatra on the full moon of Jyestha, around early June, the deities are kept away from public view and the temple administration states that darshan is not possible for 15 days. Arriving then means reaching Puri at the one time of year the deities cannot be seen in the temple.

Ratha Yatra, on the second day of the bright fortnight of Ashadha, usually in June or July, is the most famous festival of the year. The deities leave the temple in three huge chariots for the Gundicha temple about 3 km away and return on the tenth day of the same fortnight. It is a spectacular time to be in Puri, but the deities are in the chariots and at Gundicha rather than on the ratnavedi in the main temple.

Outside those weeks, the temple's twelve traditional festivals, the dvadasa yatras, spread through the year. Within the day, the administration publishes darshan from 05:30 after Mangala Alati, a gap of about an hour and a quarter in the morning, and further windows in the afternoon and evening.

Tips before you go

• Check you are eligible to enter before you travel: the administration states only Hindus are allowed inside.
• Leave umbrellas, mobile phones, electronic gadgets and leather items behind; none may be carried.
• Bathe and wear clean clothes before entering the shrine, as the administration asks.
• Keep silent inside the temple and follow the queue system.
• Do not carry cooked food, and do not come having consumed liquor or other intoxicants.
• Watch out for pickpockets and monkeys, which the administration warns about.