Puri in Odisha is famous for the temple of Lord Jagannath who is considered as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. 

But do you know Lord Krishna is related to Lord Jagannath? The story behind the Lord Jagannath Temple is …….

At the end of Mahabharath, Gandhari was experiencing an immense loss & pain due to the death of her son’s. She believed that LOrd Krishna could have averted the war with his divine powers but he did not. So she cursed LOrd Krishna that in the next 35 yrs he and his Yaduvansh will face death by killing each other and Dwarka will be flooded. Time flew by and after 35 yrs the curse began to take place as a dispute arose between the Yadavas. They started killing each other which led to the destruction of Dwarka too. One Day when Lord Krishna was lying down under a tree on the bank of a river, when a hunter named Jara visited the forest and thought that there was a deer hiding behind the tree. So he fixed a deadly arrow towards a deer and ran near the tree. When he saw that his arrow had penetrated Krishna’s feet, he misunderstood the foot of Krishna for hiding deer. After realizing his mistake, he begged and pleaded for forgiveness. Lord Krishna comforted him and told him that he was Baali in his previous life who was killed by Lord Ram, The previous incarnation of Lord Vishnu. So the death of Lord Krishna was supposed to be done by Jara, as a result Lord Krishna left the Materialistic world. Saddened Jara went in search of Arjuna and briefed him about the situation. Listening to this deep sorrow Arjuna performed the last rituals of Lord Krishna. His entire body was turned into ashes except for his heart. His heart was vibrant and Divine. It remained unaffected. Arjuna placed the heart on a wooden plank and let it flow on the river. The heart floated through the river and after a long period of time it reached the ocean of Puri, Odisha.

As per Skanda purana, Biswa Basu the re-birth of Jara with his tribal community Sabaras discovered the heart of Lord Krishna which was in the form of concentrated blue stone. They understood its divinity and used to worship it in a cave as an idol of “Neel Madhav”. Nobody except the tribal community knew about it. One day Indradyumna, the king of Malava country, an immense devotee of Lord Vishnu got aware of Idol and wished to possess it. In order to do that he sent his Brahmin priest Vidyapati to ask Sabaras. But Biswa Basu, the head of Sabaras refused to do so. Meanwhile Vidyapati got married to Biswa Basu’s Daughter. Later the Daughter convinced her Father and Vidyapati was taken blind folded to the cave of Neel Madhav. Vidyapati was very intelligent; he dropped mustard seeds all along the trail so that once flowers bloom he can track the place along with his King. Vidyapati was astonished by looking at the very divine and radiant Neel Madhav. He went to the KIngdom and explained everything to the King. After some period of time KIng and Vidyapati visited the cave by tracking the mustard flowers but unfortunately the idol went missing. As Biswa basu shifted the Idol thinking that Vidyapati would return and Steal the idol. King was very depressed even though he was an immense devotee of Lord Vishnu he couldn’t get Sight of him. 

Later the King had a dream where Lord Vishnu advised him that a “wooden plank  of Neem plant” was floating across the ocean of Puri and as you are my Immense devotee you should make an idol of that particular wood and place it inside the temple. Also you should install Neel Madhav inside the sculpture. After waking up he went to the ocean with his army but was not able to lift the wooden plank and took help from BIswa Basu and a huge wooden plank was brought to the kingdom. King started searching for an artisan who could make sculptures out of the wood. That time Lord VIshwakarma appeared in the form of an artisan and told that he would make the sculptures on one condition if nobody disturbs him till the sculptures are made. As per the condition he started working in a closed chamber continuously without food and water. But around 15 days later the sound hammer was stopped. So the queen got worried and asked KIng whether the carpenter would survive without food and water for so many days. So the king had to check the chamber but as soon as he opened the doors all the artisan vanished. Leaving 3 incomplete Idols of Lord Jagannath, his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra. King was astonished by looking at it and realized his mistake. He pleaded with the lord for forgiveness. Lord Vishnu advised the king to place the idol inside the temple and place Neel Madhav inside the sculpture. This is how the heart of Krishna was placed in the idol of Lord Jagannath. After every 12-19 yrs when the full moon appears twice during the month of Ashadha, the devotees replace the heart of Lord Krishna which is now called as Brahma Padarth in the recreated  wooden idols of Lord Jagannath. 

Discover the mysteries and miracles of Jagannath Puri temple!. This legendary temple is filled with so many unexplained wonders and miracles that have puzzled experts, historians, priests, Scientists for many years. Some of these fascinating mysteries can be explored with our Jagannath Puri Tour Packages!

1. Direction of flag: the flag hoisted at the top of Jagannath temple flutters in an opposite direction of the wind. The temple is as tall as a 45 storey building. The priest climbs atop the Shikhara to change the flag everyday without any protective gear. In case if the ritual is missed or skipped, the temple will remain closed for 18 long years.
2. Wooden Idols: temple idols are made of wood and every 8,12,19 years it is replaced with new ones during Nabakalebara festival.
3. No Shadow: temple doesn’t have any shadow no matter what time of the day it is.
4. Preparation of Mahaprasadam: the prasadam is prepared by thousands of priests in 7 earthen pots. The pots are placed one above the other. The top pot cooks first and followed by rest.
5. Sound of waves: one cannot witness the sound of waves inside the temple.
6. Nothing flies above the temple: you cannot find a single bird or the airplane flying on top of the temple.
7. Mystery of prasadam: we notice that every year lakhs of devotees visit the temple. Rath yatra draws more devotees than normal days. However, everyday the same amount of food (Jagannath prasad) is cooked and none of the food gets wasted.

Rath Yatra of Jagannath Puri Temple

People of Odisha also celebrate Rath Yatra which is the most famous festival of Lord jagannath. The Huge self- constructed and decorated beautiful chariots of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra are drowned by the devotees at the house of their aunt at Gundicha Temple. During the Rath yatra people across the globe come to visit the deities and get blessings as Jagannath literally means “the Lord of Universe”.