Puri

There are so many holy shrines in our country and it is believed that the Gods the self manifested shrines are the first rather than the Shrines enshrined by sages and mankind. There are eight self manifested temples of Lord Vishnu. Sri Ranganatha Temple of Srirangam, Balaji Temple in Tirumala,Bhuvarahaswamy temple in Ganjigera, Varahanatha Kallahalli near Mysore, Vanamamalai Perumal Temple near Tirunalveli, Mukthinath in Nepal, Varaha Temple in Puskar, Lakshmi Narayan Temple in Naimisharanya and Badarinath in Uttarakhand are the eight self manifested Temples of Lord Vishnu.

Puri is on the sea shore of Bay of Bengal on the Eastern side to the Bharat sub continent. Char Dham means the four abodes of Lord Vishnu in Badarinath in Uttarakhand State on the northern side, Dwaraka in Gujarat State on the western, Rameswaram  on the southern side at the confluence of Hindu Ocean and  Bay of Bengal and the fourth one Puri on the eastern side on the shore of Bay of Bengal. Govardhana matt in Puri is one of the 90 matt established by Adi Sankaracharya to propagate the importance of righteousness defined in Upanishads and Brahma Sutra. 

Skandha Purana, Brahma Purna and other legends described that Lord Jaganaadh primarily worshipped by Viswavasu, a Tribal King in the form of Neela Madhava Swamy and Indrajumna heard about the deity. He has send a Brahmin priest by name Vidhyapati in search of the God. Vidyapathi tried to identify the secret place of worship and at last he has obtained darshan of Neela Madhava Swamy after marriage with Lalitha, daughter of Viswavasu. Vidyapathi is intelligent and he has dropped mustard seed in all the way while returning along with Viswavasu from the forest cave where deity enshrined. In later days Idrajumna came to Orissa to visit Neela Madhava Swamy searching all the way of seedling raised in the path. The deity hides in the sand and disappeared.                                                                                  

The King feels dissatisfaction and gone on fasting at  Neel Mountain. Then there a voiceover heard that he will see the deity. The king performed Ashvamedha and constructed a temple to Lord Vishnu. Naraimha Murty brought by Narada was established in the temple. He found Jagannadh in his sleep and ordered with voiceover to get prepare the idols of Jagannadh, Balabadra, Subhadra and Sudarsana Chakra from a fragrance tree in the sea shore. The idols got prepared from Neem Tree and established in the temple. Indrajumna determined to establish a huge and height monument in the world and invited Brahma to sanctify the idol and the temple. Brahma pleased with the temple and asked Indrajumna to ask for a desire. Indrajumn asked boon that he has to be the last generation in his lineage, and the subsequent generations, if alive have to be the owner of the temple without serving to the society. 

The Temple is having interesting and mysterious features:

1. Generally, any piece of cloth is dominated by the wind to fly according to its course. The flag mounted on the top of the Jagannath Temple is a unique exception to the principle and it flows in the opposite direction to the wind’s course without any scientific reason. The priest climbs the walls of the temple of 45 floors to change the flag atop the temple dome and the walls constructed long back for this convience. This is the only temple, where the flag changed every day. The devotees believe the temple will be shut down for a long 18 years in the absence of the ritual even for one day from the calendar.                                                
2. It is a common thing that the shade of the any subject appears on its back in sunlight. But in the holly place there will be no shadow of the temple during the entire day time in any direction.
3. The Sudarshan Chakra weighing nearly one tonne got up to the top without any machinery with a human force in that olden days. The Sudarshana Chakra designed to look back with the same appearance in all directions.
4. The Jagannadh Temple is restricted and birds are not encountered above to the temple dome. Jagannath doesn’t want disturbance of his holy mansion. Sky is the domain of birds and we may see birds will sit, take rest and fly above on our heads and rooftops. The airplane could not be seen hovering above the temple. 
5. The Temple authorities prepare Prasad to the devotees’ visits the temple without waste of food not even a bite irrespective of their number. Jagannadh temple is at a distance of 2 km from the sea shore. While the devotees put their first step inside the temple through Main entrance, the sound occur to the ocean waves is entirely lost. Devotees will feel this in the evening time. The sound returns when devotees leave the temple. The local people say, it is the desire of Subhadra, sister of the Balaram and Krishna to  be silent within the temple gates and her will was duly fulfilled.
6. It is common to the breeze to flow from sea to land in day time and from land to sea in the evening. In Puri the breeze flows from land to sea in the day time and from sea to land in evening. 
7. The traditional way to prepare the Parsad will be interesting. Seven pots are used as vessels mounted over one another and are cooked using firewood. Normally the lowest vessel will be prepared primarily. But in this temple, the top most pot is cooked first, and the rest follows in descending order.
8. The idols of the deities Balaram, Krishna and Subhadra are made up with Neem wood and are believe to be disintegrated on their own. The idols will be buried for every 14 to 18 years and replaced by new ones.
9. Other people other than Hindus are not allowed to enter into the temple. They are allowed to make darshan from the upstairs of Raghubandhan Library. The system introduced due to invasions of foreigners.       

Chilaka lake is at a distance of nearly 50 km from Puri. It is the biggest salt water lake in the country. The lake is pleasant and beautiful with the mesmerizing giggles of the variety of birds. The lake is convenient for boating and visitors feel utmost happy and hilarity to their minds irrespective of age.  

The temple will be kept open from 5-30AM to night 10-00PM on all days. There is online booking of  accommodation of A.C. and Non A.C. rooms available in Temple guest houses Neeladra Bhaktha Nivas, Sri Gudhincha Bhaktha Nivas and Neelachala Baktha & Yatri Nivas.  

JAGANNADHA DHARSAN SOUL PLEASURE CHILUKA LAKE BOATING WHOLE PLEASURE