The Land of Lord Jaggannath - Puri

Puri City Guide

According to tradition, originally this dense forested area was inhabited by the Sabaras, a tribal group who predated the Dravidians and the Aryans. It is believed that the Sabaras, originally worshipped the Lord Jagannath as Nilamadhab, and made images of red tree trunks. This deity was later adopted by Brahmins. Some believed it to be the sacred site of Dantaputra, which once held the holy Buddhist Tooth relic. Until the time of its association with the Hindu reformer, Shankaracharya, Puri was an obscure outpost along the coastal trade route linking the South with eastern part of India. The Shankaracharya brought it to the religious map of India as a centre of teaching and learning a more ascetic form of Hinduism and established one of its four mathas here in the 8th century. The beginning of the 12th century witnessed the rise in influence of the Ganga dynasty with which the centre's religious importance got further consolidated. A great temple was founded by Anantavarman Chodaganga in 1135, dedicated to Purushottama (or Vishnu) and the name got changed to Jagannath (Lord of the Universe) in the 15th century during the reign of Gajapatis. The Vaishnava saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu from Bengal, spent many years at Puri in the 15th century. The temple now dedicated to the worship of Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu, is one of the four dhams in India.

How to Reach

The nearest airport is Bhubaneswar, 60 km.

Reaching Puri through Rail - Puri is a terminus on the East Coast Railway having direct express and super fast train links with New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Okha, Ahmedabad, Tirupati etc. Some important trains are Kolkata (Howrah) Puri Howrah Express, Jagannath Express; New Delhi; Purushottam Express. Khurda Road Station, 44 km, from Puri is convenient rail head for train to Chennai and Western India. The station is about one km North of the town. Cycle rickshaws and auto rickshaws compete aggressively to get you to a hotel.

Reaching Puri through Road - The bus stand near the Gundicha Temple provides connections to Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, service every 10-15 minutes. Minibuses to Konark leave every 20-30 minutes and also from Jatiababa Chhak. There are direct buses for Kolkata and Visakhapatnam.

For Getting around puri - cycle rickshaws are available all over town. Auto rickshaws are also available but every few in numbers. Bicycle, moped or a motorcycle can be hired easily from several outlets on the Chakratirtha (CT) Road for trips to the coast and to Konark. Most travel agents in the city provide this service.

Weather in Puri

Summer - March to May	Winter - November to February	Monsoon - June to October
Average Max Temp 36° C Average Min Temp 24° C Average Precipitation 40 mm	Average Max Temp 28° C Average Min Temp 17° C Average Precipitation 23 mm	Average Max Temp 32° C Average Min Temp 25° C Average Precipitation 220 mm