Why Bhubaneshwar, Why Jagannath Puri?
All Bengali’s first
and many following holiday destination ---
“Your house was locked, where have you been?”
“Ektu Puri ghure elaam, (Went to Puri for a trip).
Even your maid will tell you with this year’s
bonus first, ‘Jaggannath Prabhu’ then the ear studs she was eyeing for the last
two years.
If some Bengali is yet to visit Puri it means
you are facing a ‘non believer - Nastik or someone, what should we say a very,
‘not very Bengali’.
Whatever, ‘this’ Bengali
couple visited Puri when half our hair was grey. Falling back on an old saying
‘better late than never’, one fine day we were on a flight to Bhubaneshwar.
From the airport to the
city Centre where we had booked, travelling the road was like driving through a
small city road, lot of greenery on either side barbed wire fence guarded
landed properties, some empty plots, some cultivated, houses too dotted the
skyline, but nothing spectacular to suggest we were in the capital city of Orissa.
But of course, later, as we went around the city, posh residential areas,
schools, colleges, elite shops and eating places, many many temples, manicured gardens
qualified it as a state capital.
The city is 2600 years
old. It is the ancient city of Kalinga, also known as the temple city.
Our first destination
was the Linga raj Temple. Huge in stature and unique in beauty. Built in the 11th
century it is the biggest temple of the city. Due to security reasons
photography in the temple complex is not allowed.
The deity ---a small
dome ---raised a little, smeared with turmeric and decorated with sindoor and
flowers, almost makes it at level with the temple floor itself, you should be
careful not to miss it. More so people, priests are always hurrying you to go ahead
to make space for the crowd behind you. Warning here—there is no lull in the crowd,
so to have good darshan you have to stick to the ground –literally. The deity is
Shiva and Vishnu together in dome form.
Outside, in the Lingaraj
temple premises itself there are small temples dedicated to all the Hindu Gods and
Goddesses. Stone carved temples, small but beautifully sculptured.
Figure 1 Ramesvara Temple
The Mukteshwara temple, the Raja rani temple, the Parshuram temple, have tales of Panchatantra, intricate flowery motifs, animal and human figures, depictions from Ramayana. The Raja rani temple has no deity and an unusual tower. There are separate temples for Lord Rama’s brothers Bharat, Shatrugna and his sons Lava Kusha.
Figure 2 Lava-Kush Temple
At Dhauli the rock
edict, the elephant atop the edict signifies King Ashoka’s conversion to Buddhism.
Figure 3 Elephant Statue at Ashokan Rock edict
This is said to be the earliest rock cut sculpture.
Figure 4 Ashokan Rock Inscription
You can see the Buddhist influence all over Bhubaneshwar.
Figure 5 Shanti Stupa Dhauli
UDAIGIRI AND
KHANDAGIRI
Thanks to our guide
who gave us all the related information. A knowledgeable person qualified with
a government certificate who was happy to share with us all that he knew about the
place and its history.
Udaygiri was built in
2nd century BC. Raja Kharavela hid here after losing the battle with King Ashoka.Out
of the 752 caves made by Kharavela only 125 caves still exist.
In 1965 the Gufas got the name of UDAYGIRI.
Figure 6 Udaygiri Cave entrance
First is the Rani Gupha.One
stone structure consisting of two floors and 25 caves. In the month of February
Jains do puja here as it is believed that in the second floor 500 monks gained moksha
here. The temples are all made of sandstone. New pillars have been made to
support old and falling stones.
Figure 7 Udaygiri double story cave-Rani Gupha
Figure 8 Rani Gupha Corridor
The caves are of 3 to
4 feet dimension ---made to suit the Shirshashan mode of meditation
Figure 9 Udaygiri cave height of 4 feet
There are 5 ‘kunds’ –tanks which were protected by soldiers as women collected water there. The carvings depicting these are worn out due to the vagaries of weather. Salt in the wind being the main culprit. Sculpture shows ladies offering fruits like bananas, mangoes to Jain munis .The king visited sishupal Garh,10 km away. May be in the 2nd century BC it was the capital of Kalinga. Sculptures showed food plates, dancing girls denoting entertainment for the king. The ‘Sinhasan’ was meant for the Raja to sit enjoy the programme. Holes in front suggested they were for ‘torches’ to light the stage.
Figure 10 Sinhasan of King for watching dance
.
Rani gupha was supplied water from the kunds through holes in the walls. For the excess water outlets were there.
Figure 11 water supply thru holes in Udaygiri caves
The caves gave the impression like any other cave, but on top berths were there which were used for hiding.
Figure 12 Hidden mezzanine floor in caves for hiding
Holes again were made for ventilation purpose. The echo system aided communication.
Figure 13 Holes in caves for ventilation
The caves were connected to Dhauli but presently the government has sealed them for safety.
The Daya river flows
down which during the Kalinga war had turned into a river of blood.
Carved swastika symbol
signified, truth, Forgiveness, Peace and kindness. The gufas were used in the following
ways Gufa 1,6 am to 12am for morning meditation, Gufa - 2 ,12 pm to 3pm afternoon
meditation Gufa-3 ,3pm to 6pm evening meditation. Gufa 6, 7, 8 denote swarga, marta
and patal respectively.
Gufa 1 shows Hindu and Jain relics. A life size Ganeshmurti looks down upon you from the walls.
Figure 14 Hathi Gupha
Gufa 13 Sarpa Gufa. Shows Parswanath Bhagwan.This Gufa disintegrated and fell during the cyclone.
Gufa 14—Hathi Gufa.
Jain mantra is written in Pali.
There is a Tiger or vyaghra gufa---not much there but the tiger’s mouth and the two eyes.
Figure 16 Vyghra Gufa
Fig
17 visitors enjoying seeing other Guphas.
Fig 18 Three Story Gupha.
KONARK
The word Konark is derived from two words ‘Kon’ and ‘Ark’ meaning Angle and Surya respectively. Therefore, a temple dedicated to the Sun God. Narasinghadev started the temple in the year 1235, which got completed in the year 1250.
Fig
19 Konarak Main structure
Ist angle is ‘Prakriti’
nature ,2nd is ‘Prantha’ direction,3rd is Surya and the 4th
is ‘Chaya’ Surya’s wife.
In the east are the statue of two huge lions,
Fig 20 Twin Royal Guards of Konarak Temple
Figure 21 -Lion upon elephant over man
North has the statue of two horses.
Figure 22 Twin war Horses of Konarak temple
Figure 23 Konarak Sun temple under renovation
Figure 24 One of Sun God Statue of Konarak Temple
There is a ‘chakra’, the
lower part denotes childhood, the middle portion signifies middle age and old age
is at the top.
The temple chariot of the
Sun God is an architectural marvel. The chariot shows twelve pairs of wheels and
seven horses. The main deity area is in ruins.
Figure 25 Another view of one of the 12 wheels of Konarak Chariot temple
The big wheels have 8
spokes denoting 3 hours each ------in total makes 24 hours a day.
The audience and dance halls are intact.
Figure 27 The dance hall
sculptures
The walls of Konarak Temple are full of sculpture showing different aspects
of life like---a lady getting ready, a midwife helping with the delivery, animals,
flower forms etc.
But of course, the story of Konark will remain incomplete if we do not mention that it is most famous and known worldwide for its ‘erotic sculpture’. The best part was that our guide felt so shy, he just waved his hand at the sculptures and then looking away said,
Figure 28 guide explaining
the sculptures of wheel
‘all these and all these and all these and all
these……….’ I asked him, “do you describe like this to all?” He smiled sheepishly and said,” no I choose good
couples like you who won’t embarrass me” Nice to be told we are good and nice to
know if you want you can always find a way out of situations you want to avoid.
At last, ‘PURI’
Home of Lord Jagannath,
one of the four holy places of India or a major pilgrimage Centre. Adishankara founded
one of the ‘Peethas’ here. This 12th century temple is known for the
annual Rath yatra ----when lord Jaggannath, brother Balram and sister Subhadra visit
their aunt and live in their garden house for seven days i.e., the Gondicha
temple.
The Jagannath temple is in the old part of the city, typical with narrow streets, small and big shops, milling crowd, old buildings, like any other temple town with the temple right at the Centre. When you enter you get a glimpse of the lovely temple and its much talked about and discussed flag at the top.
Figure 29 Jagannath
temple area Puri
The Jaggannath temple at
Puri, the Sun temple at Konark and the Lingaraj temple at Bhubaneshwar are the golden
triangle of Odisha.
The temple has four gates
and the main shrine consists of four distinct buildings, namely, the main temple
---Vimana, The Jagamohan, The Nata Mandap And the Bhoga mandap.
There are four idols known
as Chaturtha murti. Sri Sudarshan is also present but Lord Jagannath, sister Subhadra
and brother Balram attract the notice of devotees. The murtis are made of Neem
wood called DARU. NABA KALEBAR is when the neem wood of the deities is replaced.
Around the temple are the smaller temples of all Hindu deities. On the Ratna vedi
or the jeweled throne along with Jagannath Subhadra, Balram and Sudarshan are three
more idols of Sridevi, Bhudevi and Nil Madhab.
Golden beach, also known as The Mahodadhi is the Puri beach is full of visitors enjoying the roaring sea and the rushing waves.
Fig30 Golden Beach Puri.
Figure 31 happiness
galore at Puri sea beach
All around are happy faces who are out to get the best out of the time and place.
Figure 32 Puri beach
tranquil
The Swarga dwaar on the
south western part is the burning ghat, where it is believed entry into heaven
is easy.
The deity in the Loke Nath
temple of puri is the guardian of lord Jagannath’s treasure hence it is known
as Bhandar Lokenath.
The Sakshi Gopal
temple devoted to Bal Gopal has the statue of Radha-Krishna. Puri visit is said
to be incomplete without a visit to the Sakshi Gopal temple.
Lake Chilika is 1110 Km stretch of blackish water meets, the Bay of
Bengal is about 50 km away from Puri. There are motorized boats to take you to the
mouth of Bay of Bengal and back. A lovely ride, peaceful, scenic and satisfying,
just sitting idly with the cool breeze wafting your cheeks and blowing your hair.
There were some people who had hired the boat and gone to sleep. I found the idea
appealing. Imagine drifting off to sleep without a care in the world.
Dolphins were sighted as we approached the mouth leading to the sea. Noise of 18 to 24 boats, excited cries of people startled them to disappear not to reappear again. At least we had a glimpse of them.
Figure 33 boats with tourists in Chilka lake
On the way back they stopped at a small half island. And what was there -----freshly cut and cooked fish fry for you. Delicious-----water all around, cool breeze, small shanties, bamboo benches, hot, hot fish fries, every non vegetarians dream and delight. You are on a holiday hence gorge on the tempting platter in front of you. You will want more. If you are a fish eater don’t ever miss this open air, lake side barbecue. Every time I think of it my craving for it works overtime. But of no use where is lake Chilika and the half island--- thousands of miles away.
Fig 34 Boats in front of us to see dolphins
Figure 35 hundreds of tourist boats on chilka
We had a lunch of crab
meat and rice, cooked to perfection. We place the order before we leave for the
boat ride. So, when this is placed in front of hungry souls you can imagine the
pleasure. A Bengali would invariably say ‘Ar ki chai’ ----what else do we need.
Odisha people are cooks
par excellence. No doubt about it. On reflection I remembered prestigious, rich
weddings proudly made it known that the Maharaj was ‘URE’ local word for people
from Odisha. A good feast was synonymous with an Oriya cook.
Return from lake Chilika
showed us rural Odisha, replete, with greenery, ponds, trees, narrow roads, thatched
houses, the small tea shops with their glass ‘baranis ‘(jars) displaying
local bakery biscuits and ‘unlocal’ packets of savouries and chips.
Before you even start for
Puri, all relatives, friends, near and dear ones, neighbors, the known fellow at
the cross roads will all warn you, beware of the ‘pandas’ –local priests. To our
surprise no one hustled us, nudged us, insisted we accompany them for a good darshan.
Yes, don’t believe, see and experience yourself.
Those were ‘the Sankranti’
days. Unbelievable, to-be-seen-to-be believed crowd. Sea of humanity, entering and
leaving the temple premises. In between all the pushing and jostling we managed
to find a nook from where we could have a darshan of ‘Jagannath Prabhu’ and present
to him our list of requests, ------my son, ----my daughter, ---my husband,
------my---- give, give, give. Endless, but who else to ask? only here at ‘His feet’ no one will object,
nor will brows be raised -----so go ahead ask while you pray or pray while you
ask.
We readied ourselves as
early as 5 am in the morning to have a GOOD darshan and what do we find the overfull,
bursting with people temple, looked as if people never slept. The darshan was always
‘the hide and seek’ type. It’s a great feat, while you are on your toes to get the
maximum view, you are also balancing your weight (over weight in my case) not to
topple because of the pushing all around, at the same time peering with all
your might, keeping your eyes focused for that fleeting glimpse of the LORD.
And this desire to see little more of HIM peacefully, this intense wish to have
one more darshan brings the story why we were no exception and got tricked. The
Lord too must have thought how dare we get away without giving something to his
pujaris. They say if you have time in your
hands, ‘ekbaar darshan kiya toh teen baar darshan karo’. So, not to miss out on
the ‘punya’, virtuous deed, not to miss this golden opportunity of being in HIS
presence and once again remind him of our numerous requests we decided on a third
visit.
Coming to the story, there
was this handsome, fair, very purohit like purohit said, “hurry, hurry, it’s time
for the temple to close”, allow our third visit and darshan to go in vain!!!!!!
He said, “Follow” and
we doubled behind him blindly. We felt he was the messiah sent by Mahaprabhu
himself. After just a few steps say after half a min ,he took a left turn and we
were inside the main temple -Mahaprabhu in front.
Prayed, thanked mahaprabhu
for giving this darshan at the nick of time. Looked gratefully at our God sent
‘panda’. Then the bomb, “Rs 400 sir”,
With wide eyes and
gaping mouth, we stared at him when he, our faces must have shown our disbelief
as he quickly added, “For the darshan sir”. It was beyond us to realize that someone
could dupe you so slickly. Plucked some withering tulsi out of another pujaris
plate,” Prasad” he said and marched away with us staring at his back, stunned
and, not stunned. Stunned by his smooth operation and not stunned because it is
happening all the time to many, and we just joined the ‘Many’.
Puri should be, wrong,
it is , a Bengali’s Paradise. Every ten steps there is a ‘Chai’ shop…. ready
with milk tea, black tea, sugar and sugarless tea, served piping hot in a jiffy.
Accompany it with bakery cake and bakery biscuit. This is definitely my interpretation
of paradise. Like Aladdin’s Jin, you say tea and ‘Tea hazir Hai’. No other, no other
place I had this luxury and pleasure.
Next are the sweet
shops, all road side. Don’t have the ‘ oh, no!!’ Expression on your face ----They
are the best. Walk down from the temple, take the lane just opposite, every third
shop is a sweet shop. There are small shops ready for morning breakfast with
huge bowls heaped with glowing white rasagullas and fried almost bulging kachoris
and puris. That soul must be most uninteresting (as per me) if this scene leaves
him unmoved and his salivary glands unaffected.
The variety of sweets displayed
leaves you spell bound. By the way don’t ever think of hi-fi places, they will neither
give you the taste nor the feeling of Jagannath Puri. Sweets made of ‘channa’ (cottage
cheese), ‘besan’(gramflour),’maida’(flour), simply, the shops are a collection
of Rasagolla, Sandesh, Boondi laddoo, Malpua ……. you name it and it is there in
front of your eyes. So much of similarity between Bengal and Odisha. Habits,
customs, rituals, dress, food AND Sweets. Really difficult to tell where Bengal
ends and Odisha begins or vice versa. Therefore, sweets not to be left behind you
also have the pleasure of Pithe, puli, Patisapta (sweets made of rice flour, coconut
and jaggery, a must during sankranti, ’poushparbon’ in Bengali meaning festival
in the month of poush) to make your food craving work overtime.
‘Chena poda’ is a
traditional Odiya sweet ---cottage cheese baked in sugar syrup over charcoal fire.
Try it and you will ask for more, even those who do not swear by sweets.
All fathers, for that
matter all parents are the same world over. We used the cycle rickshaw most of
the time. It is slow, it rambles and lets you enjoy the sights at your pace. The
rickshaw fellow adds his comments and answers your questions happily. He is your
unofficial guide, but belonging to the place his knowledge is uncountable when taken
with a pinch of salt.
Back to our rickshaw guy,
the first day when we bought ‘chenna poda’ and some other sweets of our liking,
we bought for Gajanan (the rickshaw fellow) too and asked him to have it. We
paid the sweet shop and came back to see Gajanan already waiting, surprised, I asked
him,
“Had the sweet?”
He smiled and patted
his pocket. I didn’t follow.
He once again smiled shyly,
“take it home, will eat with my children”.
I was touched, he could
have eaten and forgotten, but as I said fathers (feeling, loving fathers) are the
same world over. I bought more, sufficient for all to enjoy. First surprised,
then overwhelmingly overwhelmed, I patted his arm and
told, “Go home quickly”.
Figure 36 Hotel
Victoria Puri Beach
While on food (there is
no end to it in Puri) if you desire for star treatment, visit hotel Victoria by
the seaside, they serve finger licking food. I have not tasted such tasty ‘parse’
(a type of fish) ‘Chingdi’ (prawns) and ‘Kakda’ (crab) with ‘more than enough’
rice. A Bengali’s pleasure doubles if in front of them they have a huge plate
of steaming rice. There are numerous other dishes, steamed, with ‘shorshe bata’,
mustard sauce, Bengali type mixed vegetable, my advice---go in and indulge.
Figure 37 Superb food of Hotel Victoria
I seem to be stuck
with food. No doubt my people are called ‘pet prodhan’, ‘stomach centric’. Evening
4 o’clock the beach side gets dotted by carts loaded with fresh fish of all
types.
A pan filled with hot
oil will serve your desired fish fry. You eat it and want more. The sea breeze,
open air, the dark sky above and this barbeque is a unique experience. This may
be, why maybe it is available elsewhere too, but at PURI it is SO, SO, PURI.
Fig 38 Catch of fish for beach side stalls of fried
fish.
But if you are the finicky
types, then forget food, there are many more things to see and enjoy.
Story of Puri will be
incomplete if there is no mention of ‘Khaja’. Khaja, the layered flour, sugar
fried delicacy.
Simply superb. Shops after shops, baskets, huge baskets, after baskets full, immediate question in your mind is ‘Does so much sell’. The answer is YES.
Figure 39 Khaja
factory of Puri
Lakhs of tourists finish
tons of khaja ----they eat and carry it home. So, the equation is settled. Make
and sell, make more and sell more. It’s a factory.
Umpteen bakeries to
spoil you. Cakes and patties, puffs and burgers, veg and non- veg ---So? SO,
you will never find them so damn cheap. Pastries for 20, Rs 40 for those luxury
pastries. Burgers at 40, the expensive ones just for Rs 65. In Vadodara you pay
Rs 75 just to see them. No exaggeration, you may just look and come out. Change
your mind about buying. Truly! But believe me bakery items empty your pocket faster
than anything else. Same it is in Bhubaneshwar too.
At the beach side there are beach umbrellas, with plastic chairs which can be hired on an hourly basis. Watching people sea bathing, fooling around with family and friends, carefree laughing faces, I never imagined could be so interesting. There was an air of abandon which was infectious. It was our routine to spend 4 to 6 PM at the beach. As it darkened, the ink blue night and the lashing white foaming waves was another sight. In spite of the roaring waves there was a sense of peace. Just getting up and going away was not possible, you walk look back, linger on.
Figure 40 Relaxing at Puri beach
Utkalika is Odisha’s state
emporium. Beware every shop calls itself Utkalika. Utkalika followed by New,
Authentic, oldest, 1950 onwards in small painted print. You may just be misled and
fooled (like us, the first day) taking (this) to be the real Utkalika.
Shopper’s paradise. The
‘kotki ‘in cotton and silk, sarees, salwar and kurtas, dupattas, lungis, bedsheets,
cushion covers, you decide how you want to blow your money. Unique silver
jewellery, in filigree design. Beautiful Cane handicraft in the articles in the
form of pen stand, jewellery box, traditional toys, decorative numerous others to
choose from.
But which shops are
most crowded with people falling over each other? The aluminum shops selling
vessels of all shapes and sizes. The sauce pan was the most popular buy as I could
see in the transparent polythene bags carried by people.
Be ready for the
rush... Busloads of tourists. One thing made me think. There were very ordinary, not well-off folks, who came in those
conducted tours, with cotton towels, not white saris, red blouses drying in the
windows. May be first time out of their homes, seemed uneducated, they were emptied
out, rushed, hurried like a herd, ‘there is Subhadra, can you see Maha prabhu, come
on quick we have to go to Sakkhi Gopal,’. They exited even before you felt their
existence. Did they really see? Did they really understand? What was their
feeling? Short ladies behind a sea of people, who saw only clothes of people in
front of them? But definitely they will carry the satisfaction of visiting Puri
and be happy.
Yes, our days were
over but the invisible pull to come back again was there,100 percent. To once again
walk the streets, visit the temple, eat the sweets, sit by the waves for a few days
and forget the routine life we left behind in our town, city or metro.
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