Puri is well known throughout India
as a place of pigrimage from the time immemorial and the antiquity of this
place is well established. Mention has been made in Rg. Veda (10.155.3)
regarding the 'Daruvigrah' of Lord Jagannath. In ancient Indian religion and
learning were very closely intermingled and each Dham was also a centre of
learning, culture and religion. Puri, being one of the four Dhams of the
country, was not an exception to this traditional view. Puri, as a holy place
or Tirtha, first finds mention in the Vanaparva of Mahabharata. The sanctity,
glory and significance of this sacred city have been elaborately described in
the Kuruma Purana, Narada Purana, Padma Purana and the Vishnu Khanda of Skanda
Purana. As mentioned earlier, in the 7th Century A.D., Indrabhuti, the founder
of the Vijrayana sect of Buddhism flourished in Orissa and in his famous work
'Jhanasidhi', heprayed Lord Jagannath as mainfestation of Buddha in its
Mangalacharanam. After Adi Sankaracharya, other four great Vaishnava Achryas
from the South, Sri Ramanuja, Sri Vishuswami, Sri Nimbarka and Sri
Madhavacharya came to this sacred place of pilgrimage and preached their
philosophy of religion as a result of which this city assume greater
importance. Thus Puri has been a place of international importance because of
its historicity and rich cultural background.
Puri,
as narrated in the Mythology
A number of descriptions are found in
various Puranas and scriptures relating to the importance and antiquity of
Puri. Voluminous works in sanskrit containing accounts of ancient Indian
history, culture, mythology, philosophy, religion etc. present detailed picture
of the origin of Lord Jagannath and Jagannath Puri. Prominent among the Puranas
are the Skanda Purana, the Mastya Purana, the Brahma Purana, the Bamadeva
Samhita, the Niladri Mahodaya, even the Ramayana and the Mahabharata describe
the importance of Lord Jagannath and Jagannath Dham. Some scholars opine that
even Jesus chirst and Mohammed, the world famous founders of Christianity and
Islam respectively also visited Puri. The importance of Purusottam Khetra has
been narreted in various scriptures.
As per these mythological records, Lord Jagannath was worshipped by the
'Savaras' as Nilamadhav in Niladri, blue mountain on which the present Temple
of Lord Jagannath exists. Hence this Tirth has been in existance since 'Satya
Yug'. Since the king Indradyumna of that age took initiatives to construct a
Temple for Lord Nilamadhav, he performed a great sacrifice at Puri and brought
'Brahma' from Heaven to consecrate the Temple. However, the historicity of
these facts is still in question.
Advent
of Sri Chaitanya
Puri has been the meeting ground of
all branches of Indian philosophy and all kinds of sects of religion from time
immemorial. The advent of Sri Chaitanya to Puri during the region of
Prataprudra Dev in the 14th Century to Puri generated an atmosphere of
spiritualism in Orissa and propounded the significance of Bhakti among the
people of Orissa. Sri Chaitanya stayed at Puri for about 22 years and promoted
Jagannath cult adopting his own way of devotion and propounded a system of
philosophy of 'Achintyabheda Tattva'.
With the advent of Mahaprabhu Sri Chaitanya, the tradition of Vaishnav cult,
which was actually originated in the 12th Century A.D. with the composition of
Gitagovindam by Sri Jayadev of Orissa, was highly enriched and reached the
climax and a number of Mathas started to be established as centre of
spiritualism to accomodate the Vaishnava devotees committed to the spiritual
tradition of Puri. As a result, now you find near about 752 mathas are on the
record in Puri out of which quite a good number has been destroyed.
Places
of Tourist Interests
At the centre of the Puri town is the temple of Lord Jagannath
and all arround it are a number of streets. The main
road of the town, called Bada Danda, is very wide, and the streets , sahis,spread
out somewhat in the shape of a fan with Bada Danda as its handle: Harachandi
Sahi on the west, Bali Sahi on the south, Dolamandapa Sahi on the
east, Markandeswar Sahi on the north and so on. Besides the main temple Puri has
a large number of smaller temples dedicated mostly to Shiva, Kali and Hanuman and
numerous religious institutions, mathas.
Puri has a salubrious climate and attracts tourists from all over the world
round the year and particularly during the summer months.It has one of the
finest beaches of the world and is the home of numerous artisans and craftmen
who produce rare and exquisite handicrafts of a large variety.
Apart from the two main attractions
i.e. Temple of Jagannath and Sea Beach, other places of cultural importance and
scenic beauty, which arrest the attention of the tourists.
From all these above mentioned
angles, spiritual, cultural, historical and philosophical, Puri, no doubt is a
worth-visiting place, which always stands committed to Welcome the tourists not
only from India but abroad, irrespective of caste, creed and color, through its
everflying Patitapabana Flag and everflowing waves of the Bay of Bengal.
Historical
and Cultural background of Puri