Puri Jagannath temple is one of the seven holiest temples in India but also included as four sacred Dhams of Hindu religion in India. The temple is one of the most spectacular in architectural terms, and stands on the north-eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal. The temple's fame is as the home of the image of Krishna known as Jagannath. Literally Jagannath means Lord of the Universe. Starting from its creation the Puri has given different names due to the presence of Lord Jagannath like Sri Purusottama Dhama, Sri-Kshetra, Nilachakra Dham, Nilachala, Jagannath Dham, Sankha Kshetra and many more.
King Indradyumna first established the Jagannath temple Puri here on the Nilacala hill but the present temple was build King Chora Ganga deva and finised by his descendant Ananga Bhima Deva during 12th century. The temple complex comprises an area of 10.7 acres and is enclosed by 2 rectangular walls. The outer enclosure is called Meghanada Prachira. The walls are 20ft high. The inner wall is called Kurma bheda. The walls were built during 15th or 16th century. The temple kitchen is the largest kitchen in the world as it feeds thousands of devotees every day, and more than lakhs in festival days and it is believed that the foods are never goes waste. There are 36 traditional communities who render a specific hereditary service to the Deities.
Thirty different smaller temples surround the main Jagannath Puri temple. The Lord Narasimha temple adjacent to western side of the Muki-Mandapa, was constructed before the present temple. In front of the main gate is an 11 m pillar known as Aruna Sthambha. This pillar was once in front of the Sun Temple in Konark. It was bought to puri during 18th Century. The four gates of the temple are named as Simhadwara the lion temple in easternside, the Ashwadwara- Horse temple as southern gate, Vyaghradwara- the tiger gate as western gate, Hastidwara, the elephant gate as northern gate. Structurally the temple has four chambers. The outermost is the Bhogmandir, the next is the Nata-mandir pillared hall for music and dance, the next is the Jagamohana - or the mandapa where devotees gather for worship and the last is the sanctum or the Deul enshrining the deities.
One of the most popular attractions of the Jagannath Puri Temple comprises of its Rath Yatra that is organized every year. It is basically a chariot festival, where idols of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra, the main deities of Srimandir, are taken to the Gundicha temple in bejewelled chariots and are brought back to the mandir in the same way.