Jagan nath Puri Mandir

The Jagannath Temple of Puri is a

 sacred temple dedicated to Bhagwan Jagannath, located at Puri in the state of Odisha.

The temple is an important pilgrimage destination for  Hindus, and is part of the Char Dham pilgrimages that all Hindus are expected to make in one's lifetime

Even though most Hindu deities are made out of stone or metal, the image of Jagannath 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. The reason behind this ceremonial tradition is the highly secret Navakalevara ( 'New Embodiment') ceremony, an intricate set of rituals that accompany the renewal of the wooden statues

The temple was built in the 12th century atop its ruins by the King Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva. The temple is famous for its annual Rath Yatra, in which the three main temple deities are hauled on huge and elaborately decorated Raths.

In the inner sanctum,Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and the goddess Subhadra are seen sitting on the bejewelled platform or the Ratnabedi .  The deities of Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarshan Chakra are made from sacred Neem logs  Depending on the season the deities are adorned in different garbs and jewels. Worship of the deities pre-date the temple structure and may have originated in an ancient tribal shrine.

Legend surrounding the Temple Origin

The traditional story concerning the origins of the Lord Jagannath temple is that here the original image of Jagannath at the end of Treta yuga manifested near a banyan tree, near seashore in the form of an Indranila nilamani or the Blue Jewel. It was so dazzling that it could grant instant moksha, so the god Dharma or Yama wanted to hide it in the earth, and was successful. In Dvapara Yuga King Indradyumna of Malwa wanted to find that mysterious image and to do so he performed harsh penances to obtain his goal. Vishnu then instructed him to go to the Puri seashore and find a floating log to make an image from its trunk.

The King found the log of wood. He did a yajna from which god Yajna Nrisimha appeared. Vishwakarma appeared in the form of artist and prepared images of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra from the tree  When this log, radiant with light was seen floating in the sea, Narada told the king to make three idols out of it and place them in a pavilion. Indradyumna got Visvakarma, the architect of Gods, to build a magnificent temple to house the idols and Vishnu himself appeared in the guise of a carpenter to make the idols on condition that he was to be left undisturbed until he finished the work.

But just after two weeks, the Queen became very anxious. She took the carpenter to be dead as no sound came from the temple. Therefore, she requested the king to open the door. Thus, they went to see Vishnu at work at which the latter abandoned his work leaving the idols unfinished. The idol was devoid of any hands. But a divine voice told Indradyumana to install them in the temple. It has also been widely believed that in spite of the idol being without hands, it can watch over the world and be its lord. Thus the idiom