Ratha Yatra, the ancient annual festival of the chariot journey by Lord Jagannatha, the presiding deity of the great temple Srimandira at Puri, is one of the grandest spectacles on earth. Jagannatha along with siblings Balabhadra and Subhadra ride three colourful chariots in their annual sojourn to their garden house and birthplace Gundicha Temple where they stay for seven days before returning. RathaYatra is rooted in ancient traditions, myths and legends and ...
The temple town of Puri in Orissa, one of the four most sacred sites of Hindus, has been a major centre of Vaishnavism for almost a millennium. A deity of great antiquity, earlier known as Purushottama and Nilamadhava, Sri Jagannatha, the presiding deity of its main temple, considered as the creator of incarnations and a manifestation of the supreme divinity is identified with Krishna and Vishnu. His palatial temple, Srimandira, was built in the twelfth century ...