Legendary History of Jagannath Temple(जगन्नाथ मंदिर का पौराणिक मंदिर )

History of jagnnath temple : It is believed that when Lord Vishnu goes on a visit to his four Dhams, he takes bath in Badrinath, his Dham situated on the high peaks of the Himalayas. In the west, clothes are worn in Dwarka, Gujarat. Dine at Puri and rest at Rameshwaram in the south. After Dwapar, Lord Krishna started residing in Puri and became the Lord of the world i.e. Jagannath. Jagannath Dham of Puri is one of the four Dhams. Here Lord Jagannath sits with elder brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra.                                                             

पौराणिक मंदिर जगन्नाथ

 Among the seven ancient and sacred cities of Hindus, Puri is situated on the sea coast of Orissa state. Jagannath Temple is dedicated to Lord Krishna, the 8th incarnation of Vishnu. The holy city of Puri, situated on the eastern end of the Bay of Bengal in the east of India, is a short distance from Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa. Today's Orissa was known as Utkal Pradesh in ancient times. Here the country had rich ports, where trade with Java, Sumatra, Indonesia, Thailand and many other countries was carried out through these ports.                                                In the Puranas it has been called Vaikuntha of the earth. This is one of the four Dhams of Lord Vishnu. It is also called Shri Kshetra, Shri Purushottam Kshetra, Shak Kshetra, Neelanchal, Nilgiri and Shri Jagannath Puri. Here Lakshmipati Vishnu had performed various types of pastimes. According to Brahma and Skanda Purana, Lord Vishnu incarnated here in the form of Purushottam Neelamadhav and became the most revered deity of the Sabar tribe. Being the deity of Sabar tribe, the form of Lord Jagannath here is like that of tribal deities. Earlier the people of the tribe used to make the idols of their gods from wood. Apart from the priests of Sabar tribe, there are also Brahmin priests in the Jagannath temple. From Jyeshtha Purnima to Ashadh Purnima, all the rituals of Daitapati Jagannath ji of Sabar caste are performed.                                                              

 According to Purana, Purushottam Hari is worshiped in Nilgiri. Purushottam Hari is considered to be the form of Lord Rama here. It is written in the oldest Matsya Purana that the goddess of Purushottam area is Vimala and she is worshiped here. According to the Uttarakhand of Ramayana, Lord Rama asked Ravana's brother Vibhishana to worship Lord Jagannath, the family deity of his Ikshvaku dynasty. Even today the tradition of Vibhishana Vandapana continues in the Shri Mandir of Puri.                                               Geographical description of Puri Dham is found in Skanda Purana. According to Skanda Purana, Puri is like a southern conch and it is spread over an area of 5 Kos i.e. 16 kilometers. It is believed that about 2 kos of its area has been submerged in the Bay of Bengal. Its belly is the golden sand of the sea which is washed by the holy water of Mahodadhi. The head area is in the west direction which is protected by Mahadev. Brahma Kapal Mochan, the second form of Shiva, is present in the second circle of the conch. It is believed that a head of Lord Brahma got stuck to the palm of Mahadev and it fell here, since then Mahadev is worshiped here in the form of Brahma. Mother Vimala is in the third circle of the conch and Lord Jagannath is seated on the chariot throne in the navel place.                      

 King indradayumna had built the temple   here :King Indradayumna was the king of Malwa whose father's name was Bharat and mother's name was Sumati. King Indradayumna had seen Jagannath in his dream. Many texts have written in detail about King Indradyumna and his yagya. He performed many huge yagyas here and built a lake. One night Lord Vishnu appeared to him in his dream and said that there is an idol of mine in a cave of Neelachal mountain and it is called Neelamadhav. You build a temple and install this statue of mine in it. The king sent his servants in search of Nilanchal Mountain. One of them was Brahmin Vidyapati .                                                                 Vidyapati had heard that the people of Sabar clan worship Neelmadhav and they had hidden this idol of their deity in the cave of Neelanchal mountain. He also knew that the head of the Sabar clan, Vishvavasu, was a worshiper of Neelamadhav and he had hidden the idol in the cave. The clever Vidyapati married the chief's daughter. At last he succeeded in reaching the cave of Neelamadhav through his wife. He stole the idol and brought it to the king.                           

 Vishwavasu was very saddened by the theft of the idol of his favorite deity. God also became sad due to the sorrow of his devotee. The Lord returned to the cave, but at the same time promised King Indradayumna that he would definitely return to him one day provided he built a huge temple for him. The king built the temple and asked Lord Vishnu to reside in the temple. God said that to make my idol, you should pick up a big piece of tree floating in the sea, which is coming to Puri after floating in the sea from Dwarka. The king's servants found a piece of the tree but even all of them together could not lift the tree. Then the king understood that he would have to take the help of Vishvavasu, the head of the Sabar clan, who was an ardent devotee of Neelmadhav. Everyone was surprised when Vishwavasu lifted the heavy wood and brought it to the temple.       

 Now it was the turn to carve the idol of God from wood. The king's artisans tried their best but no one could even put a chisel in the wood. Then Lord Vishwakarma, the skilled artisan of the three worlds, came in the form of an old man. He told the king that he could make the idol of Neelamadhav, but he also kept his condition that he would make the idol in 21 days and would do it alone. No one can see them making them. His condition was accepted. People kept hearing sounds of saws, chisels and hammers. King Indradayumna's queen Gundicha could not control herself. When she went near the door she did not hear any sound. She panicked. He thought the old artisan was dead. He informed this to the king. No sound was heard from inside so the king also felt the same. Ignoring all conditions and warnings, the king ordered the door of the room to be opened.                   

 As soon as the room was opened, the old man was missing and three incomplete idols were found lying inside. Lord Neelamadhav and his brother had small hands made, but not their legs, whereas Subhadra's hands and legs were not made at all. The king considered it to be God's wish and installed these incomplete statues. From then till today, the three brothers and sisters are present in this form. 

The present temple was built in the 7th century. Although this temple was also built in 2 BC. The temple located here has been broken three times. It was renovated by Orissa ruler Ananga Bhimdev in 1174 AD. There are about 30 small and big temples established around the main temple.