We started for Puri at 7:30 in the morning and reached it at
around 9:00. Our trip advisor suggested we visit Puri first. May be he thought
it was good to visit the temple in the morning or may be, he must have thought
with fresh mind and body we will be more forgiving of the shabby state of
affairs at the state’s most sacred temple. Puri Jagannattha temple, the pride
of Orissa is a revered place not only for the people of Orissa but all the
Vaishnavites around India. It is one of the ‘Char dham’ (Badrinath,
Rameshwaram, Dwaraka, Puri) piligrimage a hindu is expected to make at least
once in a life time. I have come to expect more from such a pilgrimage centre,
but was disappointed to find it in such a pitiful state. Lack of proper
information is one of the major concerns. Non-Hindus are not admitted into the
temple. On reaching the temple we found that no mobile phones, cameras,
handycams, umbrella’s or even water bottles are allowed inside the temple. Well
and good, but they failed to provide a good locker facility, as tourists we
were carrying all these things and when they asked to leave these things with
some undesignated people outside the temple, who kept them in ragged old sacks
along with our slippers. The people who are appointed to take care of the
valuables were properly named or designated or at least wearing a shirt, so
pardon me for not feeling safe to leave all my valuables to them.
Then there is a NO ENTRY sign at the front entrance and nowhere
that says how to enter the temple. After enquiring several police and security
officials whose knowledge of English was practically nil, with some broken
Hindi we managed to find out that there are two more entrances to the north and
south of the temple high walls. As we entered the temple through the northern
entrance the first sight we encountered was that of ‘bats’. Would you belive
it! Bats in a temple! that is still receiving pujas regularly. A few focused
lights in strategic locations could have eradicated the problem, but I guess
the famous temple is little low on funds to spare for a few bulbs. The path
leading to the main temple is sticky with spilt ‘bhog’ (the holy rice
offering). When we finally reached the temple our view to the Lord was
obstructed by a group of people and priests animatedly debating on some issue,
completly ignoring that they were inside the temple complex and are causing
great in convenience to the piligrims. When the voices began to raise we tried
to enquire some novice priests about the issue, but due to language problem we
were unable to understand them then we asked them how we were supposed to see
the Lord with people standing there. At that point someone, very rude mannered
fellow started pointing at the exit and kept pointing in another direction. We
were disgruntled to be shown out of the temple without seeing the Lord. But it
turned out that he was pointing us to another door to the sanctum sanctorium
from where we were able to see Lord Jagannatha in full view. This was one of
the instances which make us rethink our own view of the world around us. We
thought the person to be rude but all he was doing was trying to do was steer us
away from trouble and point us in the right direction. Thank you Lord for a
well deserved lesson, we learn something every day.
All in all Puri was a rollercoaster of experiences. We go in
expecting a grand experience but are faced with a humble temple complex with
very little pretension, surrounded with quiet many minor temples. But the
larger than life idol of the Lord was awe inspiring. When we entered through
the south entrance my gaze immediately fell on the dark looming figure way
right in the sanctum sanctorium. The idol of Lord Krishna or Lord Jagannatha as
he is called here, with wide penetrating sight immediately captures our utmost
attention. Every temple has its own customs and traditions, here in the
Jagannatha temple devotees raise both their hands towards the heaven and praise
the Lord calling out ‘Jai Jagannatha’. The comparatively shorter figure to the
left of Lord Jagannatha is that of Subhadra and to her right is the imposing
figure of Bala Bhadra (Balarama), who is considered as an image of Lord Shiva.
Hence they proudly present to us a temple which holds the Siva Kesava in the
same sanctum sanctorium.
Together the triad of brothers and sister are the reigning
deities of this holy land. Each year they are honoured by a grand festival
called Jagannatha Rath Yatra in the month of June which attracts a lot of
tourists and piligrims alike. Each year many logs of wood is gathered here to
build a grand chariot (Rath) for the honourary deities visit to the city.
Millions of people pour into the city of Puri for a glimpse of deities on their
outing. The wood that is used for the chariot is the one that is used to to
cook bhog around the year for the Lord. Though the excursion merely stretches
to the end of the grand avenue called the ‘Bada Danda’ right in front of the
temple. The preparation of bhog is also a must see event. Earthen pots of
different sizes are piled up one over the other and get the food in all the
pots is cooked evenly and at the same time.
Travelling with my husband is a challenge on its own. Being
a typical South Indian he prefers, no, insists on having rice for his lunch and
dinner, moreover being a vegetarian his choices of restaurants fall from many
to quite a few. Though he loves sweets, he will not tolerate any amount of sweetness
in his curries or dal, so I always keep a lookout for restaurants, which could
accommodate at least a few of his requirements. A fellow passenger from our
train journey to Orissa was a South Indian like us now residing in Orissa. He
suggested that we should stick to tiffin, snacks or Chinese because we will not
find Orissan meals to our taste. So when I spied ‘Hotel Grand’ a few yards away
from the temple on the first floor of a shopping complex. I immediately steered
my husband in that direction. The air conditioned room room was a welcome
relief on a hot day. Though they did not have tiffin there was a limited
selection of Chinese so we ordered fried rice and curd rice. The fried rice was
good but the curd rice was a bit sweet and then we understood why Reddy sir
told us we might not enjoy Orriyan food. It was always sweet. Oriyans prefer
sweets. Their Rasgullas are finger licking good. So good, that it is said that
even Lord Jagannath offers Lakshmi Devi to enter the temple. Truly the
favourite of the Gods. They enjoys healthy amount of sweets in their diet,
well... who doesn’t; but they also have a thing for sea food maybe not near the
temple. To enjoy the sea food of Puri we need to head towards Puri beach.
Puri beach is a busy area bustling with hawkers with strings
of pearls of all shapes and sizes, (which could be original or cultivated) gem
stones, souvenirs made of sea shells, conches, little replicas of the Puri
temple, models of the famous wheels of Konark temple, hand bags, applique work
umbrellas and wall hangings. It is difficult to find peaceful stretch of beach
in Puri so if you want to have a peaceful beach experience head towards
Konark....
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