Odisha is a small state in East India which is famous for beaches, temples, lakes, handicrafts and many more. This place is even more famous for a temple that is known worldwide, the Puri Jagannath Temple. For more than a century past, historians, foreign and Indian, have been trying to’ unveil the mystery of the three deities namely, Jagannatha, Balabhadra and Subhadra worshipped in the Puri temple.
The puranas present elaborate information pertaining to the origin of this temple. The scripts of Mahabharata and Ramayana also had references to the Shrine of Jagannath temple. Some scholars hold that even Jesus Christ and Mohammed, the founders of Christianity and Islam respectively also visited Puri. The sculpture and antiquity of this temple goes back to the 2nd century B.C. The main temple in Puri is surrounded by about 30 temples, small and big. These temples were established at different periods by different people in the past.
There are many things about this temple that have not got any answers. A few of them were answered but it again depends on each one’s perception. But yes this temple is surely magical with immense divinity.
1. There are no birds or planes that fly above the temple.
2. The flag always flaps in the opposite direction.
3. The Sudarshan chakra at the top of the temple is visible from any point in Puri
4. After entering the temple from Singha dwara’s entrance, the first step you cannot hear any sound produced by the ocean. But, when you exit it can be clearly heard.
5. The number of devotees that come to visit the temple keep changing accordingly but the amound of Prasadham they cook everyday is the same and is never insufficient or wasted.
6. The Prasadam to the Lord is cooked on firewood in seven vessels kept one above the other. The miracle is that the food kept in the topmost vessel gets cooked first, followed by the second and so on till the seventh or lowest one above the fire gets cooked.
7. The old idols of the lord Jagannath, sister Subhadra and brother Balbhadra are buried on one another. It is said that they disintegrate on their own. The new idols are made of tree wood and the old idols are to be kept at the Tulsi garden near the Jagannath temple at Puri.
8. The shadow of the main dome is invisible at anytime of the day.
9. Normally during day-time, air comes from sea to land & during evening, the vice-versa occurs. But in Puri it’s totally opposite.
There have been answers to a few of these points. But it again goes on the perception and also experiences that everyone carries along after visiting the temple.
