Puri: A City of Devotion and Diversity

Puri, the coastal district of Odisha, occupies a distinct place in the tourist map of India. The city is world-famous for the Lord Jagannath Temple and the Car festival. The place is famous for its temples, culture, beach, and the almighty god, Lord Shri Jagannath. People from all around the world come here to have a look at the famous Dhamma.

The district boasts a continuous history from the 3rd Century B.C. to the present day. The district is known for the unique monuments like those of the Lord Jagannath temple at Puri and the Sun God at Konark, and the Chilika Lake, a brackish water lagoon, which is the largest coastal lagoon in India and the second largest lagoon in the world. It is the largest wintering ground for migratory birds on the Indian sub-continent, and the lake is home to a large number of threatened species of plants and animals. It is due to its geographical location that the district enjoys an equable climate throughout the year.

Puri, the abode of Vishnu as Jagannath, which contributed the word “Juggernaut” to the English language, represents its integrated individuality as its cultural heritage, a unique blend of claims of time and eternity with a power answerable only to wisdom. Puri’s compendious heritage has been representing that spark of immortality that the Odias and the Indians have owned against the powers of negation, through a spirit of university, adaptability, and an astute mixture of the present which no other culture can aspire to explain as its self-justification. The name of the Lord as Purusottama (perfection personified) or as Jagannath (Lord of the Universe) represents a universality in tune with the familiar fraternity of mankind (Vasudheva Kutumbakam). Adi Shankaracharya visited Puri, set up the Gobardhan Matha (monastery) as an exception from his other three mathas as a Vaishnavite, and defined Jagannath as the Supreme one. It is thus not only one of the four Dhams (Holy Places) for Hindus but the most pious and sacred place.

The Quintessential characteristic of its culture and philosophy has made it from Pan-Indian to Pan-Continental. The Car- Festival of Shri Lord Jagannath is now not limited to Puri or Odisha; rather, it is celebrated on a global scale, the reverberations of which are heard from Los Angeles to Piccadilly, from Heidelberg to Tokyo.

The Jagannath culture is not only predominant in Puri, but it is global. Its universal affirmation is that secular diffusion of such an attitude is futuristic. It calls for unity in diversity is an age of diverse perversity. The consecration of the empire by Gajapati of Puri. Kapilendra Deva to Lord Jagannath, the lord emerging as “Istadeva” and “Rastradevata” and rolled down the centuries as the crest of nationalism, which found Madhusudan Das (the eminent barrister of the British era ) in 1928 to cry out, ‘serve us, Lord Jagannath’. The dazzle of Koh-I-Noor, originally gifted to Lord Jagannath, the Hum of devotional “Janana” (non-bhajan), the cries of Chandan Hajuri (the chief warrior of Maharani Laxmibai), and ‘the Mahaprasad brotherhood’ have been unifying forces and symbols of national unity.

The evolution of Odissi dance and music out of the Devadasi institution still enchants all with its mystic rhythm. The Orissan (or Kalingan) School of architecture emerging from here is a poetry frozen in stone. The Patta-paintings and appliqué work are a craze in the West, particularly in U.S.A. of today. The Shell-craft of Puri has a major appeal.

It is thus here at Puri that the pattern of a Pan-Indian (nay, global) culture of tomorrow is on the anvil. People are individual atoms, ever contributing their properties to the “matter” of Jagannath Dharma without consciousness of mutual distinctions. Puri belongs to humanity, the seat of an eternal education, the bridge that gulfs the past and the future, and the blending of diverse impulses for a single embodiment in the march of all fulfilling time.

Temples and sanctuaries, beaches and glorious lakes, colorful, vibrant, and numerous festivals for every reason and for every season that can take on a “Jagannath-like momentum”.

Geographical Location

The whole of the district may be divided into two dissimilar natural divisions, the littoral tract and the level alluvial tract.

• The littoral Tract: The strip of the country lies between the alluvial and the Bay of Bengal. It assumes the form of a sandy ridge which stretches along the seashore for the full length of the District, varying from 6.5 km to a few hundred meters in width. Accumulations of wind-blown sand give rise to ridges parallel to the coast. It forms the dividing line between the Chilika Lake and the ocean.
• The Level Alluvial Tract: This level of alluvial region is full of villages and rice fields, watered by a network of channels, through which the water of distributaries of the most southerly branch of the Mahanadi finds its way to the sea. There is no hill in Puri District except for a small cultivated land that is under plough. Generally, biali or autumn rice, Sarada or winter rice and Dalua or spring rice these three types of rice are cultivated.
• Sea-coast Bays: The length of the sea coast of the district of Puri is nearly 150.4 km. Sandy ridges are found along the sea-coast, which stretch into the districts of Jagatsingpur and Ganjam. One such sandy spit divides Lake Chilika from the Bay of Bengal. These sandy ridges and dunes are formed by the strong monsoon currents that blow over the country for nearly 8 months of the year. The ridges vary from about 7 km to a few meters in width and have prevented most of the rivers of the district from finding their way into the Ocean.
• River system: All the rivers of Puri district have a common characteristic. In the hot weather, they are beds of sand with tiny streams or none at all, while in the rains, they receive more water than they can carry. Generally, all rivers are distributaries of the Mahanadi River.
  • Kushabhadra
  • Daya
  • Bhargabi
  • Kadua
  • Prachi

How to reach there?

Puri is very well connected with both road and rail transport. The nearest airport available from here is Bhubaneswar, i.e., 60 km away from here.

• Railways: Railway facility is available from Puri and to Puri from all major cities, towns, and areas (inside the state as well as outside states).
• Roadways: The district is well connected with all the important places of the state, as well as outside the state.
• Airways: Bhubaneswar airport is the nearest and reachable airport from the district.

Where to stay?

There are several hotels, lodges, dharmashalas, youth hostels, and Panthnivas, most of them along the beach. There are many hotels (including five-star hotels) available in Puri for a good stay.

Fairs and Festivals

Puri celebrates many festivals, including Ratha Yatra, Puri Beach Festival, Bahuda Yatra, Ganesh Puja, Jhulana Yatra, among many others.

Shopping

One can also say that Puri is a shopper’s paradise. It is because one can get a whole lot of products at an affordable price. Another noteworthy feature of markets in Puri, where one can shop, is that they are scattered all across the holy city so that one can shop at any place of their choice. One of the most important cottage industries in Puri includes the textile manufacturers. Kotki, Bomkai, and several other traditional saris and dress materials, in silk and cotton, are renowned all over the country. Applique work of Puri is also reminiscent of the temple art, where small pieces of colored cloth and tiny mirrors are shaped and stitched together in various motifs. These make wonderful umbrellas, canopies, bags, lamp shades, wall hangings, and other utility items.