Another famous temple in our country is dedicated to lord Vishnu. Jagannath Puri Temple is world famous and has the longest Golden Beach. It is one of the holiest places out of the four Dham, Badrinath, Dwarka, Rameswaram, and Puri. This ancient temple receives millions of devotees each year and even more than that on special occasions.
The temple features the Kalinga architectural style, and this temple is the house of many small temples beside the main temple. The principal deities in this sacred shrine are Lord Jagannath, his brother Lord Balabhadra and his sister Goddess Subhadra. The architecture of the temple is amazing, an incredible structure that represents the ancient culture and a brilliant example of ancient craftsmanship.
Shri Jagannath temple is one of the most impressive monuments of the Indian state Odisha and was built by a famous King of the Ganga Dynasty Ananta Varma Chodaganga Deva dating back to the 12th century. The main temple is located at the center of the inner courtyard on a raised platform that is built in Kalinga architectural style, the temple has four parts including Nata Mandapa, Vimana, Jagamohana, and Bhoga Mandapa. The shrine has two temple structures namely Rekha Deula and Pitha Deula, with the Vimana featuring the Nagara type of Rekha Deula style while the Jagamohana featuring Pitha Deula style.
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The entire temple is surrounded by two concentric walls, the inner wall is called ‘Kurma Prachira’ and the outer wall, which is 20 to 24 feet high, is called ‘Meghanada Prachira’. The outer wall has four gates the east gate is known as Singha Dwara, the west gate is called Vyaghra Dwara, south gate is known as Aswadwara, and north gate is called Hastidwara. The most important festival is the World-famous Rath Yatra or Car Festival & Bahuda Yatra. A huge massive crowd is gathered to witness Mahaprabhu Shri Jagannath during this festival.
There are some interesting facts about the temple, first, we know that cloth is dominated by the wind to fly according to its course. The principles apply to everything, but seems like the flag that is mounted on the top of the Jagannath temple flows in the opposite direction to the wind. There is no scientific explanation for this phenomenon.
Secondly, we know everything object has a shadow, but what If I tell you that this temple has no shadow? Yes, this is true, this temple bears no shadow at any time in the day in all directions. We know that there is no shadow day celebrated on earth, but it varies at different places, once a year. But how could it be even possible for a thing that has no shadow permanently? There is no scientific explanation for this. The temple comes under a fly zone area, not even can birds fly above the dome.
Thirdly, there is a beach around the temple, but while entering the temple, the wave’s sound is stopped. The temple is built with such technology and design that wave sound can be heard inside the temple. Again, there is no scientific explanation that adds up to this fact. You can again hear the sound when you leave the temple.
How to reach the temple?
By Train- Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri is located at a distance of 2.8 km from the Puri Railway Station and only about 1.9 km from the Puri Bus Stand. Private taxis, and auto rickshaws, can be easily accessible from the railway station and the bus stand to reach the temple.
By air- the nearest airport to the temple is the Biju Patnaik International Airport which is about 60km away from the city of Bhubaneswar. One can take a private cab to reach the temple.
