Puri
One Of The Four Char Dham Pilgrimage Sites; Home Of The Jagannath Temple And The Rath Yatra · Puri, Odisha
A seaside town on the Bay of Bengal in Odisha and one of the four Char Dham, the holiest pilgrimage destinations in Hinduism, centred on the twelfth-century Jagannath temple, whose tower rises over the town. The temple is in constant worship, runs one of the largest kitchens in the world to cook offerings for tens of thousands, and is closed to non-Hindus, who can see it only from outside or from the rooftops opposite. Its great event is the Rath Yatra, held each year in June or July, when the deities of Jagannath, his brother and sister are carried out on three enormous wooden chariots, rebuilt every year, and pulled through the main street by vast crowds; the English word juggernaut comes from it. Puri is also a beach town, with a long sandy shore where pilgrims bathe, fishermen launch boats, and a stretch has Blue Flag certification. Swargadwar, on the beach, is a cremation ground that pilgrims regard as a gate to heaven. Nearby are Raghurajpur, a village of painters, and Chilika Lake. Puri forms a triangle with Konark and Bhubaneswar.
Grand Road, Bada Danda, Puri, Odisha, 752001, India
NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The typical pattern: the Jagannath temple opens to Hindus before dawn, around 5 in the morning, and closes late at night, with pauses for offerings during which darshan stops. For roughly two weeks before the Rath Yatra (the anasara period after Snana Purnima) the deities are not on view. The library rooftop opposite opens in daytime and closes around lunchtime and evening. Konark keeps sunrise-to-sunset hours. During the Rath Yatra, roads into the centre close from early morning. Confirm all timings before travelling.