I
Śrī Jagannātha Kṣetra · Purī · Nīlācala
On the sea-blue hill of Nīlācala, three wooden deities preside over one of the four cardinal dhāms. Its towers rise 65 metres; its history reaches back into legend.
Kṣetra Purāṇam
The story of
daru-brahma.
The Skanda Purāṇa recounts how King Indradyumna, having heard of a mysterious blue deity worshipped in secret by a tribal chief named Viśvāvasu, sent his minister Vidyāpati in search. The Lord vanished from that shrine when discovered, and reappeared as a piece of driftwood — daru-brahma — on the shore of Purī.
Nārada instructed the king that the divine artisan Viśvakarmā would carve the three deities, on the condition that he not be disturbed for twenty-one days. The queen Guṇḍicā, unable to bear the silence, prompted the doors to be opened; and the deities remained forever unfinished — without complete limbs, without eyes-fully-formed — the primordial form of God.
To this day the sanctum contains not marble but wood; and every twelve to nineteen years, in the Nabakalebara, the deities are renewed from new neem trees identified by omens.
The Daily Sevās
A day in the life
of the Lord.
01
Dawn
Dwāradāṇā & Mangala Ārati
The doors open before daybreak; the first vision of the Lord.
02
Morning
Mailam & Abakāsha
Fresh clothing and the Lord's morning toilette.
03
Late Morning
Gopāla Ballabha & Sakāla Dhūpa
Breakfast of curd, chipped rice, sweetened yogurt; then the mid-morning bhoga.
04
Midday
Madhyāhna Dhūpa & Mahā Prasāda
The great offering — 56 preparations of the Chappana Bhoga.
05
Afternoon
Madhyāhna Pahuḍa
The Lord rests. The temple is quieter.
06
Evening
Sandhyā Ārati & Sandhyā Dhūpa
Lamps rise, ashṭapadis are sung.
07
Night
Bada Śṛṅgāra & Pahuḍa
The night dress; the Lord retires.
Kings & Bhāgavatas
Those who kept the
temple's fire alive.
Indradyumna
LegendaryThe Mālava king to whom the daru-brahma was first revealed; the first temple is attributed to him in the Skanda Purāṇa.
Yayāti Keśari
9th c.The Somavaṃśī king who is said to have restored the shrine after Muslim invasions of the Mādala Pañjī.
Anantavarman Chodaganga
1078–1147The Eastern Ganga emperor under whom the present great temple was built at Nīlācala.
Anaṅga Bhīma Deva III
1211–1238Completed the temple, established the Chappana Bhoga tradition and the daily seva structure.
Puruṣottama Deva
1467–1497A great Vaiṣṇava Gajapati; connected to the story of the sweeper-king who sweeps the chariot road.
Pratāparudra Deva
1497–1540Contemporary and disciple of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu; hosted the Master in Purī for years.
Miracles & Bhaktas
When the Lord
came out to meet His own.
Salabega, the Muslim bhakta
Once, when Sālabega — a leper Muslim devotee — could not reach Purī in time for Ratha Yātrā, the Lord's chariot stopped on the Grand Road and refused to move until he arrived. It stopped at Bālīsāhi, and there stands his samādhi to this day.
Dāsia Bāuri & the coconut
An untouchable devotee offered a coconut but could not enter the temple; a priest carried it in his contempt. The Lord did not touch it. When the priest went back and confessed, and the coconut was offered with love, marks of the Lord's hand were seen on it.
Bandhu Mahānti's khichdi
Once a poor bhakta cooked a small pot of khichḍī and forgot to offer it before eating. In deep remorse he wept. The temple pujārīs found the Lord's mouth stained with rice, and understood that He had accepted the offering directly from the devotee's home.