JAGANNATH TEMPLE
- The Jagannath Temple at Puri is one of the most revered Vaishnava sites of worship in India.
- The temple is believed to be constructed in the 12th century by King Anatavarman Chodaganga Deva of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty.
- The temple is famous for its annual Ratha Yatra or Chariot festival, in which the three principal deities (Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra) are pulled on huge and elaborately decorated temple cars
- Jagannath Puri temple is called ‘Yamanika Tirtha’ where, according to the Hindu beliefs, the power of ‘Yama’, the god of death has been nullified in Puri due to the presence of Lord Jagannath.
- This temple is built in Odisha type of temple architecture
ODISHA SCHOOL (Source – Singhania, Nitin. Indian Art and Culture)
- In different parts of the Kalinga empire, this distinct style of temple architecture developed. Some of its features were:
- The exterior walls were lavishly decorated with intricate carvings, but interior walls were plain.
- There was no use of pillars in the porch. Iron girders were used instead to support the roof.
- The shikhara in the Odisha school was known as rekha deul. They were almost vertical roofs which suddenly curved inwards sharply.
- The mandap was known as jagamohan in this region.
- The ground plan of the main temple was square.
- Temples were surrounded by a boundary wall as in Dravidian style of temple architecture.