Tour to Jagannath Puri — Orissa
“Puri” is a coastal district of Orissa in eastern India and situated on the Bay of Bengal south of the state capital Bhubaneswar. It is famous for its historic antiques, religious sanctuary, architecture, seascape beauty. It holds a wealth of attractions for visitors. It is known As Jagannath Puri after 12th century Jagannath Temple located in the city. It is one of the original Char Dham pilgrimages of Hindus. Puri region is also known as “Utkal”.
“Jagannath” (Jagannatha) meaning is “Lord of the Universe”. Jagannath is considered as form of Lord Vishnu or his avatar Krishna by the Hindus. It is a deity worshipped by Hindus and Buddhists. Jagannath is worshipped as part of triad on the”Ratnavedi” along with his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhdra.
The idol of Jagannath is a carved and decorated wooden perplex with large round eyes and with perplexes hands, with the evident absence of legs. It is made of wood, which is an exception to Hindu iconographic deity worshipped in the form of stones and metal. The procedure and practices, sacraments, rituals do not conform to the classical Hindus. The evolution of Jagannath is a subject to define by many scholars but it is not clearly stated yet. Thus, it is issue of debate.
There are 13 major festivals held in every year. The Rath Yatra festival is one the most famous festival held in July and is attended by 1 million people.
Puri is rich and famous for its culture. The Odissi dance form has become very famous now, which was performed in the temple and the Odissi music which was evolved in Puri is quite different from Hindustani and Karnataka music. The Mahari Dance which is coming from Nata mandir and it’s also enlightened the fragrance and the touch of culture. The other trible dance forms Gotipua dance, Naga and Medha dance, Ghoda nacha, Dhuduki Nacha, Jatra, Pala, Daskathia, Bhalu Nacha, Mankada Nacha and Navrang are some other prevalent dance forms in the district.
Puri is a religious city, it also has another famous temples Ghudicha Ghar Temple, Loknath temple, Daria Hanuma and Sonar Gaurang Temple, Ardhasani Temple.The Goverdhan math was established by Sankracharya, around 1000 years ago. The Jagannath Ballav and Suna Goswami Math is also famous among visitors.There are some other popular places among visitors that are Atharnala Bridge, Puri beach, Puri Ashram.
If you want to visit a quite religious city, then you can visit the Puri and see the famous sand art and shop crafts decorated with appliqué art. Don’t forget to take the blessings of Jagannath by having the 56 bhog prasadas.
