The Temple of Lord Jagannatha at Puri

Temple of Sri Jagannath at Night - The closest I could get

So, I am still at Jagannath Puri (mentally and in spirit) and writing about my trip to this amazing place. The historic Jagannath temple (Shrimandir) at Puri was built in the year 1078 and some of the incredible facts about the temple that I read are,

 1. The flag atop the temple has been observed to flap in the opposite direction of the breeze.

Apart from this, the flags are changed every day by the temple Pujaris. This itself is an amazing thing, to watch someone climbing some 215 feet with bare hands, carrying heaps of flags. It happens during the evening time, I think some time around 5:30PM. There are two or three pujaris or the staff appointed by the temple (I presume someone that belongs to the family of temple Priests) climbing the different domes to change the flags. And, once the flags are changed, they comeback with the old ones and the flags will be sold. I bought one flag to keep as a special memory of the temple.

2.It is said that, Irrespective of where you stand in Puri, it seems to you that the Sudarshana Chakra on top of the temple is always facing you. I haven't tried this myself.

3. Usually in coastal areas during the day-time, the breeze blows from the sea towards the land and during evening hours it blows from the land towards the sea. But in the case of Puri it is the reverse.

04. No birds fly above the Jagannath temple in Puri. (Actually, don’t remember seeing any birds in the temple complex).

Aerial View of  Sri Jagannath Puri Temple

  

Temple of Sri Jagannath at Night

05. The shadow of the main dome of Jagannath temple is not visible, whatever be the time of day. Maybe an architectural feat or the Lord’s desire?

06. The food cooked inside the temple everyday will not go waste.

Sri Jagannath replica elsewhere at Puri

07. After entering the temple from Singha dwara’s entrance, after the first step you cannot hear any sound produced by the ocean. But, when you exit it can be clearly heard. This can be noticed clearly during evening. There is no scientific explanation for this. Legend has it that Subhadra Mayi, the sister of the two Lords wished peace and serenity within the temple abode and hence it was made to come about that way.

On the main Road Opp to Temple of Sri Jagannath 

To move around in Jagannath Puri temple complex which consists of number of mini temples and other significant places, you need the help of a local person, a priest that works or authorised by the temple. The pujaris or priests are called as Panda and this visit we sought the help of a young Panda called "Purushottam Panda with an interesting background. He is in his early thirty’s and did his education, study of Yajur Veda from Maharshi Mahesh yogi School. He studied Vedas from a young age and finally moved to Puri and took up this profession since last few years.

Temple of Sri Jagannath at Night

Purushottam Panda was very helpful in every step, not only from taking us inside the temple, but also talking to Auto Rickshaw drivers for our visits to nearby places, booking train tickets. And, he knows everyone in Puri and ins and out of the place and temple. Also, I noticed that when we went with him to the Jagannath temple, no other Pandas come to us to ask for a donation or something like that. Otherwise, I heard some stories like one of my friend went to a smaller temple within Jagannath temple complex and was demanded dakshina or donation. My friend refused to donate anything saying that he doesn’t have any money. Before, he could realise what was happening, the panda angrily applied a strong camphor to his eyes, saying why did you come without any donation. It took few minutes for my friend to get back to normal, with his eyes burning. Luckily I did not go through any such experience.

And, of course Mobiles and cameras are strictly prohibited in the temple. I could manage to take pictures of temple only from outside. Inside the temple, Apart from Lord Jagannath, Baladev, Subhadra there is more to see like, Bimala Devi temple, Narasimhadev temple and few more temples. First time, it took us around 1 hour to go around the temple. (Apart from queue and darshan in the main temple).

And, also one more amazing thing was visit to the Kitchen of Jagannath, the Lord of the universe (That took us about 30 mins). There are lots of unique things about the Kitchen and how the cooking for the Lord is done. Firstly, only the native or indigenous vegetables are used in cooking which means, no Tomato’s, Potato’s etc. And, there are no machines or automation. Everything is done manually or by hand and people. Right from drawing water from a well, peeling coconuts, cutting vegetables etc. No gas or electricity stoves. Only, wood and coal. Also, all the preparations are cooked in Mud Pots. Each mix pot is prepared at one time, like Rice, vegetables etc. and they are stacked one on top of each other. Up to 7 Pots are stacked and the way the top ones gets cooked is by heat conduction and heat transfer in the form of steam between the pots. Interestingly, the bottom one doesn’t get burnt or that is the expertise of the cooks. Of course, we are not allowed to go inside the Kitchen but, we went around the huge Kitchen and saw the Bhoga - preparation being cooked. I was told, the number of stoves is around 150 and all staff for kitchen duties with around 600 cooks and 400 assistants per day. Each day, the Lord is offered 80 to 100 different items, six times a day starting from the morning. The details as below,

Gopal Vallabh Bhog (Breakfast at 8.30 am)

Sakala Dhupa (Morning meal at 10.00 am)

Bhoga Mandapa Bhoga (Supplementary to breakfast at 11.00 am)

Madhyanna Dhupa (Midday meal at 12.30 to 1.00 pm)

Sandhya Dhupa (Evening meal at 7.00 to 8.00 pm)

Bada Singhara Bhoga (Late night Meal at 11.00 pm).

I saw the Offering being carried in Pots by two people. Multiple pots are hung on to a stick, by a rope or a cloth which is carried by two people. Once, the food is offered to the Lord and then to Vimala Devi.The food called as Mahaprasad is then, distributed and sold in the market called as Anand Bazar which is attached to the temple complex.

Purushottam Panda

Again, because of Purushottam Panda, we had wonderful darshan of the Lord and also a nice feast of prasadam which tasted excellent. This time, we stayed in a Hotel close to the temple, basically on the same road and a ten minutes’ walk, mainly because we had to walk in the traffic of people, Autos, Rickshaws, Street sellers shop that is spread on the road and on footpath. We had a nice darshan (holy view) of the Lord Jagannath 4 times at different times of the day with the only dissatisfaction that, compared to our last visit few years ago, we could not go to the Lord as near. Apparently, couple of rocks slipped and fell from the roof of the main dome and was under repair and that was the reason for not allowing anyone to enter close to the sanctum sanctorum.

Jagannath means, the Lord of the universe and the world famous Ratha Yatra or carrying the Lord ships, Sri Jagannatha, Lord Baladeva and Subhdra Mata is an annual event, which draws millions of people from all over India and the world. Ratha Yatra is the day, when anyone and everyone from the world can have a darshan of the Lord and celebrated during the summer months.

*Darshan - means a view of someone Holy, sacred or revered like the Deities of the Lord or a Holy person.
P.S:- For some reason, I am not able to find the photo that I took with Purushottam Pandaji. I will try to find and post it ASAP.
30/10/2017: As promised, I am attaching the Photo of Purushottam Panda that I took.I still have his contact details and if anyone visiting Puri and need some assistance, let me know and I can share his details.