Traditions of Puri
The seaside home of Lord Jagannath, whose giant chariots roll through the streets every summer.
Puri on the Bay of Bengal is one of the four holy abodes, or dhams, of Hindu tradition. The Jagannath Temple at its centre is dedicated to Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra, shown as carved wooden figures renewed every few years. The town is quiet for most of the year and enormous at the time of the Rath Yatra.
The Rath Yatra
In June or July three great wooden chariots are built anew and pulled by thousands of devotees down the Grand Road to a temple a few kilometres away. The deities stay for a week and return in a second procession. The word juggernaut in English comes from the name of this god and this chariot.
At the table
Mahaprasad, the temple's food, is cooked in clay pots on wood fires in the vast temple kitchen, and offered to the deity before being sold to pilgrims. It includes rice, dal, vegetables and sweet khaja. On the beach, fishermen sell fresh catch and women make cooling pakhala, fermented rice with water.
Signature traditions of Puri
Also part of it, and being written: Jagannath Temple, Puri (The temple and its daily worship and kitchen.), Pakhala (The summer dish of soaked rice.).
A trail idea for Puri
- Grand Road Walk the wide avenue the chariots take.
- Swargadwar beach Watch cremations and the sunrise over the sea.
- Raghurajpur A craft village known for pattachitra painting.
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Opening hours, markets and festival dates change; check locally before travelling. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
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Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Ratha Yatra: G.-U. Tolkiehn, CC BY 2.5, source
- Nabakalebara: Jitpattnaikpuri, CC BY-SA 4.0, source