Sri Jagannath Temple
Shrikshetra of Puri Jagannath, as is commonly known, can verily be said to be a truthful replica of Indian culture. To understand this culture, one has to have some idea of the history of this land, which again is different from that of other countries of the world. Indian history does not contain accounts of imperialistic aggressions or invasions into the territorial integrity of any nation.
Starting from Lord Jagannath himself, history has it that he was a tribal deity, adorned by the
Shabaras, as a symbol of Narayan. Another legend claims him to be
Nilamadhava, an image of Narayana made of blue stone and worshipped by the aboriginals. He was brought to
Nilagiri (blue mountain) or Nilachala and installed there as Jagannath in company with
Balaram(
Balabhadra) and Subhadra. The images made of wood are also claimed to have their distant linkage with the aboriginal system of worshipping wooden poles. To cap it all the Daitapatis, who have a fair share of responsibilities to perform rituals of the Temple, are claimed to be descendants of the aboriginals or hill tribes of Orissa. So we may safely claim that the beginning of the cultural history of Shrikshetra is found in the fusion of Hindu and Tribal Cultures. This has been accepted as a facet of our proud heritage. The three deities came to be claimed as the symbols of
Samyak Darshan,
Samyak Jnana and
Samyak Charita usually regarded as Triratha (of the
Jain cult), an assimilation of which leads to
Moksha (
salvation) or the ultimate bliss.
Lord Jagannath is worshipped as Vishnu or
Narayana or
Krishna and Lord
Balabhadra as
Shesha. Simultaneously, the deities are regarded as the bhairava (Shiva the formidable) with
Vimala (the
bhairavi or the consort of Shiva) installed in the campus of the temple. So ultimately we find a fusion of
Saivism,
Shaktism and
Vaishnavism of the Hindu religion with
Jainism and up to an extent Buddhism in the culture of Jagannath and the cultural tradition so reverently held together in
Shrikshetra.The huge temple complex covers an area of over 400,000 square feet (37,000 m
2), and is surrounded by a high fortified wall. It contains at least 120 temples and
shrines. With its sculptural richness and fluidity of the Oriya style of temple architecture, it is one of the most magnificent monuments of India.
[13] The main temple is a curvilinear temple and crowning the top is the 'srichakra' (a eight spoked wheel) of Vishnu. Also known as the "Nilachakra", it is made out of Ashtadhatu and is considered sacrosanct. Among the existing temples in orissa, the temple of Shri Jagannath is the highest. The temple tower was built on a raised platform of stone and, rising to 214 feet (65 m) above the inner sanctum where the deities reside, dominates the surrounding landscape. The
pyramidal roofs of the surrounding temples and adjoining halls, or
mandapas, rise in steps toward the tower like a ridge of mountain peaks.
[14]The main shrine is enclosed by a 20 feet (6.1 m) high wall. Another wall surrounds the main temple.
plots are 1750 sqft 35/50 
