Jagannath Temple of Odisha is one of the four Dhams. According to the Puranas, when Lord Vishnu goes on a pilgrimage to the four Dhams, he takes a bath in Badrinath Dham. He wear clothes in Dwarka, Gujarat. He eat food at Rameshwaram and take rest at Jagannath Dham. Lord Jagannath is seated in this temple along with his elder brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra.

There is a famous story behind stopping the sound of the ocean from coming to the temple. It is said that once Naradji came to see Lord Jagannath, Hanuman ji standing at the door told that the Lord is resting at this time. Naradji stood outside the door and waited. After some time, when he looked inside the temple gate, Lord Jagannath was sitting sadly with Srilakshmi. When he asked the Lord the reason for this, he said that the sound of the ocean does not let him sleep.

When Narad ji told Hanuman ji about the obstacle coming in the rest of the Lord. Then Hanuman ji got angry and told the sea that you stop your voice by moving away from here. On this Samudra Dev appeared and said that O Mahavir Hanuman! It is not in my power to stop this sound. If the wind blows, the sound will come, so for this your father begged. Then Hanuman ji requested his father Pawan Dev and said that you should not flow in the direction of the temple. Describing it as impossible, the father suggested that a circle should be made around the temple so that the sound does not go inside.

Hanumanji accepted the suggestion of his father and made such a circle around the temple with the wind that the sound of the ocean does not go inside the temple and Lord Jagannath rests comfortably. It is miraculous that the sound of the ocean stops as soon as you take the first step in the entrance of the temple, but after taking a step back, the sound starts to be heard.

King Indradyumna was the king of Malwa. His father’s name was Bharat and mother’s name was Sumati. One night, Lord Vishnu appeared to him in a dream and said, “There is an idol of me in a cave in Nilanchal mountain, it is called Neelmadhav. You should build a temple and install this idol of me in it.”

The king sent his servants in search of Nilanchal mountain. One of them was Brahmin Vidyapati. Vidyapati had heard that the people of the Sabar clan worship Nilamadhav and hid this idol of their deity in the cave of Nilanchal mountain. He also knew that Visvavasu, the head of the Sabar clan, is a worshiper of Nilamadhava and he hid the idol in the cave.

To get the idol, Vidyapati married the daughter of the chief of the clan. Finally he managed to reach the cave of Neelmadhav through his wife. He stole the idol and brought it to the king. Visvavasu was deeply saddened by the theft of the idol of his beloved deity. The Lord was also saddened by the misery of his devotee. So Lord Vishnu returned to the cave, but at the same time promised Raj Indradyumna that he would definitely return to him one day but for this he would have to build a huge temple.

Then the king understood that the help of Vishwavasu, the head of the clan, the exclusive devotee of Nilamadhav, would have to be taken. Visvavasu single-handedly picked up the heavy wood and brought it to the temple.

Now it was time to make the idol of God out of wood. The king’s craftsmen tried a lot but no one could even put a chisel in the wood.

Then Lord Vishwakarma came in the form of an old man. He told the king that he could make an idol of Nilamadhav.

But at the same time he also put his condition that he will make the idol in 21 days and will make it alone. No one can see them being made. His condition was accepted. The sounds of saws, chisels, hammers kept coming from inside the room.

One day when King Indradyumna’s wife Gundicha went near the door, she could not hear any sound. She panicked. He thought the old craftsman had died. He informed the king about it. No sound was being heard from inside, so the king felt the same way. Despite all the conditions and warnings, the king ordered the door of the room to be opened.

As soon as the room was opened, the old man disappeared and 3 unfinished idols were found lying in it. Lord Nilamadhav and his brother had small hands, but not their legs, while Subhadra’s hands and feet were not made at all. Considering it the wish of God, the king installed these unfinished idols. Since then till today all the three idols exist in this form.

The present temple was built in the 7th century. Although this temple was also built in 2 BC. The temple located here has been broken 3 times. It was renovated in 1174 AD by the Orissa ruler Ananga Bhimdev. Around 30 small and big temples are established around the main temple.

Flag waving against the wind: The red flag installed above the Shri Jagannath temple always flutters in the opposite direction of the wind. Only scientists can tell what is the reason for this, but it is definitely a surprising thing.

It is also surprising that every evening the flag installed above the temple is changed by human beings upside down. There is a moon of Lord Shiva on the flag.

From any place in Puri, if you look at the Sudarshan Chakra on the top of the temple, you will always see it in front of you. It is also known as Nilachakra. It is made of Ashtadhatu and is considered very sacred and holy.

So far no bird has been seen flying around the dome above the temple. Aircraft cannot be flown over it. Whereas it has been seen that birds sit on the domes of most of the temples of India or are seen flying around.

Here the Prasad of Lord Jagannathji is prepared by 500 cooks along with 300 colleagues. About 20 lakh devotees can eat here every day.

In the kitchen of the temple, 7 utensils are placed on each other to cook the prasad and everything is cooked on wood. In this process, the ingredients in the top vessel are cooked first, then the bottom side is cooked one after the other, that is, the food of the top vessel gets cooked first.

The sound of the ocean is not heard as soon as you take the first step inside the temple. Cross a single step outside the temple, then you can hear it. This can be clearly experienced in the evening.

Similarly, outside the temple is the heaven gate, where dead bodies are burnt to attain salvation, but only when you come out of the temple you will feel the smell of burning of dead bodies.

Once in every 12 years new idols are made but the shape and form remain the same. It is said that those idols are not worshipped, they are kept only for darshan.

It is believed that 3 times the sea had broken the temple of Jagannathji. It is said that Lord Jagannath had appointed Hanumanji to control the ocean here. But whenever Hanuman ji used to come inside the temple to have darshan of Lord Jagannath, the ocean also entered the city with him. Disturbed by this habit of Hanumanji, Lord Jagannath tied Hanumanji with a golden chain here. There is an ancient and famous temple of Hanuman on the sea coast in Jagannathpuri itself. Devotees come to have darshan of Hanuman ji.