pori jaganatha temple

The Jagannath Temple (Odia: ଜଗନ୍ନାଥ ମନ୍ଦିର) of Puri is a sacred Vaishnava temple dedicated toLord Jagannath (Odia:ଜଗନ୍ନାଥ)and located on the eastern coast ofIndia, at Puri in thestate of Odisha.

The temple is anIMPORTANTpilgrimage destination and is particularly visited by devotees of Supreme lord Sri Krishna and is one of the Char Dhampilgrimages that anyone is expected to make in one's lifetime.^[1]

The Jagannath temple was built in the 12th century during the era of the Eastern Ganga dynasty's KingAnantavarman Chodaganga Deva, a dynasty known for also building the Sun temple of Konark and several major Shaivism temples.^[2]

The temple is famous for its annual Rath Yatra, or chariotfestival, in which the three main templedeities are hauled on huge and elaborately decorated temple cars. Since medieval times, it is also associated with intense religious fervour.^[3] Even though the icons of mostHindu deities that are worshiped are made out of stone or metal, the image ofJagannath is wooden. Every twelve or nineteen years these wooden figures are ceremoniously replaced by using sacred trees, that have to be carved as an exact replica.^[4]

The temple is sacred to all Hindus and especially theVaishnava traditions and saints Adi Shankaracharya ,Ramananda &Ramanuja were closely associated with the temple. Ramanujaalso established the Emar Matha near this temple. The Govardhan Mutt which is the seat of one of the four Shankaracharyas is also located here. It is also of particular significance to the followers of theGaudiya Vaishnavismwhose founder,Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, was attracted to the deity, Jagannath, and lived in Puri for many years.^{[citation needed]}