Among all the temples raised during the Ganga period, none matches the Jagannath Temple at Puri — known to devotees simply as Shree Mandira — in scale, sanctity or sculptural richness. Its completion made Puri a major centre of religion and culture, not only within Odisha but far beyond its borders.
The temple as it stands today is the work of several generations of Eastern Ganga rulers. Anantavarman Chodagangadeva most likely initiated or substantially extended its construction after shifting his capital to Cuttack around 1136 CE, but did not live to see it finished. Epigraphic evidence — the Dasagoba copper-plate inscription, dated Saka 1119–1120 (1197–98 CE) — records that the main structure was completed under Anangabhimadeva II. A little over a decade later, Anangabhimadeva III (r. 1211–1238 CE) formally consecrated the temple and dedicated his kingdom to Lord Jagannath, an act that later historians often popularly — if imprecisely — credit as the temple’s “completion.” Numerous further additions were made during the long reign of the Suryavamsi Gajapatis.
Jagannath Temple at a Glance
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Construction Begun By | Anantavarman Chodagangadeva, c. 1136 CE |
| Main Structure Completed By | Anangabhimadeva II, c. 1197–98 CE (Dasagoba copper-plate inscription) |
| Formally Consecrated By | Anangabhimadeva III, r. 1211–1238 CE |
| Location | Puri, Odisha |
| Dedicated To | Lord Jagannath, with Balabhadra and Subhadra |
| Architectural Style | Kalinga style — Pancharatha plan, Rekha Deula and Pidha Deula |
| Four Main Structures | Vimana (Deula), Mukhashala, Natamandira (Jagamohana), Bhogamandapa |
| Height of Vimana | 214 ft 8 in (about 65 m) |
| Complex Area | Over 400,000 sq ft (37,000 sq m); 120+ shrines and temples |
| Outer Wall | Meghanada Pacheri, 20 ft (6.1 m) high |
On This Page
Scale and Layout of the Complex
The temple complex spreads across more than 400,000 square feet (37,000 sq m) and is ringed by a fortified outer wall known as the Meghanada Pacheri, roughly 20 feet (6.1 m) high. A second, inner wall — the Kurma Bedha — encircles the main temple itself. Within these two boundary walls stand at least 120 subsidiary temples and shrines, making the complex one of India’s most magnificent monuments for the sheer density of its sculptural riches and the fluidity of its Oriya architectural style.
The main temple itself is organised into four distinct structures, arranged in a single axial line:
- The Deula, Vimana or Garbhagriha (sanctum sanctorum) — built in the Rekha Deula style, it houses the triad deities on the Ratnavedi (Throne of Pearls).
- The Mukhashala — the porch immediately in front of the sanctum.
- The Natamandira or Natamandapa, also called the Jagamohana — the audience and dancing hall.
- The Bhogamandapa — the offerings hall.
The main temple is a curvilinear structure crowned by Vishnu’s Srichakra, an eight-spoked discus better known as the Nila Chakra. Built on a raised stone platform, the tower rises 214 feet (65 metres) above the inner sanctum, making it the tallest temple structure in Odisha and a landmark dominating the surrounding landscape. Around it, the pyramidal roofs of the adjoining halls step upward toward the main tower like a ridge of mountain peaks.
Of the four principal structures, the Natamandira and Bhogamandapa are generally considered later additions, most likely built during the reign of the Suryavamsi Gajapatis.
The Vimana
The Vimana rises to a height of 214 feet 8 inches over an 80-foot square base, and was built in the Pancharatha style. For generations, thick plaster covering the temple’s outer walls hid its sculptural decoration from scholars entirely. Only recent conservation work by the Archaeological Survey of India, which removed this plaster from the outer walls, has revealed the full extent of the temple’s decorative programme.
What emerged is clear evidence of Kalinga art at its most developed: the Astadikpalas (guardian deities of the eight directions), a lion mounted triumphantly over crouching elephants, sculptures of Krishna, processions of horses and elephants, an array of socio-cultural scenes, and erotic panels — the same visual vocabulary found on the walls of the Sun Temple at Konark, built barely a generation later.
The Jagamohana
Like the Vimana, the temple’s Jagamohana was raised in the Pancharatha style, and its roof is reinforced from within by several iron beams. It stands some 120 feet tall, and its outer surface, like the Vimana’s, carries a notable body of erotic sculpture alongside its other decorative work.
Natamandira and Bhogamandapa
The Natamandira is pyramidal in shape, forming a square hall measuring 69 ft by 67 ft on the inside within an 80-foot square exterior. Its sculptures depict the story of the Kanchi-Kaveri expedition, most likely commemorating the celebrated military campaign of Gajapati Purusottamadeva.
The Bhogamandapa, also pyramidal, measures 58 ft by 56 ft. Its sculptural programme is dominated by scenes from the life of Sri Krishna — Krishna playing the flute while the cows listen with heads raised, his many poses, his exchanges with the cowherd women in the boat, and the springtime Dola Yatra. Other deities of the Brahmanical pantheon appear here too, worked with real artistic sensitivity: the court of Indra (Indrasabha), the coronation of Ramachandra (Rajyabhisheka), and Lord Shiva seated on his bull Nandi are all rendered with considerable skill.
The Nila Chakra
The Nila Chakra (Blue Discus) is mounted atop the temple’s main shikhara. It is a disc carved with eight Navagunjaras — a mythical composite creature of Odishan tradition — around its perimeter, each facing the flagpost above. The Chakra stands about 3.5 metres (11 ft 8 in) high, with a circumference of roughly 11 metres (36 ft), and is cast from an alloy of eight metals, or Ashtadhatu. It was repaired and restored by the Archaeological Survey of India in 2010.
Every day, a fresh flag is hoisted on the Nila Chakra according to age-old ritual. The flag attached to it is called the Patita Pavana (“Purifier of the Fallen”) and is treated as equivalent in sanctity to the images of the deities within the sanctum sanctorum. The Nila Chakra is distinct from the Sudarshana Chakra, which is installed in the inner sanctum alongside the deities themselves.
Within the Jagannath cult, the Nila Chakra is the most revered iconic symbol of all — the one physical object outside the sanctum whose markings are treated as sacred and used as a sacrament in worship. It stands, above all, as a symbol of Lord Jagannath’s protection.
The Outer Wall and Four Gates
The entire temple is ringed by the outer wall known as the Meghanada Pacheri. Historians point out that this wall was not part of the temple’s original design, but it gives the complex the appearance of a fort, pierced by four grand gateways that add considerably to the temple’s overall grandeur.
The eastern gate, popularly called Simhadvara, is the temple’s main entrance. A large crowned lion crouches on either side of the gateway, and the pilasters carry two robust guardian figures, Jaya and Vijaya — pilgrims often refer to this as the Jaya-Vijaya Dvara. The gate is further adorned with images of Patitapavana, Ganesha and Hanumana. Before it stands the Aruna Stambha (the Surya pillar), brought from Konark and installed here during the Maratha administration of Odisha.
The southern gate, the Asvadvara, is next in importance, named for the two large horses — one black, one white — and their riders, Balabhadra and Jagannath, carved on its pilasters, recalling Purusottamadeva’s Kanchi-Kaveri expedition. The northern gate is flanked by two colossal elephants and is accordingly known as the Hastidvara, second in importance only to the Asvadvara. The final gate, the Vyaghradvara, takes its name from the two large tiger images that guard it, lending the entrance its own air of grandeur.
Each gate also carries religious symbolism: the Simhadvara represents Dharma (piety), the Asvadvara represents Jnana (knowledge), the Hastidvara represents Aisvarya (material prosperity), and the Vyaghradvara represents Vairagya (renunciation).
Baisi Pahacha and the Enclosures
Immediately upon entering through the Simhadvara, a pilgrim crosses the Baisi Pahacha — twenty-two steps that, in Hindu belief, represent the twenty-two sins of human life. Completing this flight is said to purify the pilgrim of these sins and confer Punya (religious merit). The Kurma Bedha gateway and the Suna Saraghara stand among the principal shrines in this area, alongside the smaller shrines of Kasivisvanatha, Ganesha, Nrusimha and Ghantamundia Thakurani.
A double wall divides the area at the top of the Baisi Pahacha into an outer and an inner section. Between the Asvadvara and the inner enclosure stand the shrines of Nrusimha, Barabhai Hanumana, Gopala, Rama and Budhima. Toward the western gate are replicas of four of India’s most important tirthas — Badrinarayana, Ramanatha, Krishnanatha and Jagannath — a visit to all four of which is believed to confer Punya.
Beyond the Hastidvara, the outer enclosure holds further shrines of note: Sitala, Uttarayani, Hanumana, Somanatha, Dhavalesvara and Patalesvara. Four inscriptions of the Ganga monarch Anangabhimadeva III, discovered in the Patalesvara temple, record details of the Jagannath Temple’s rituals.
Rosaghara: The Temple Kitchen
The Rosaghara, Lord Jagannath’s temple kitchen, is often described as the largest kitchen in the world. Rice and vegetables are cooked simultaneously in earthen pots stacked one atop another over wood fires. Once formally offered to the deity as Bhoga, the cooked rice and curry become Mahaprasada — food sanctified for distribution among devotees.
Kalpabata, Muktimandapa and Rohini Kunda
Among the notable shrines on the temple’s southern side is an Ashtadhatu (eight-metal) image of Nilamadhava, worshipped in the form of Lord Jagannath. Nearby stands the Kalpabata, an enormous sacred banyan tree, where women seeking a son tie threads to its branches in hope of a blessing.
The Muktimandapa (“hall of salvation”) is a raised rectangular hall on sixteen pillars, measuring 30 ft by 38 ft, built by Gajapati Prataprudradeva. Here, Brahmin pandits versed in sastric law gather to offer authoritative rulings to those seeking absolution from sin — a function that has held the attention of Odias, and of pilgrims across India, for centuries.
Close to the Muktimandapa lies Rohini Kunda, a sacred tank associated with a carved image of a four-armed crow, tied to local temple legend. Pilgrims regard the water of this Kunda as sacred and sprinkle it over their heads as a blessing.
Shrines Within the Complex
Among the many smaller temples inside the Jagannath Temple complex, the Vimala temple stands out. On iconographic grounds, its construction is thought to predate the Jagannath temple itself. The sacrifice of a goat before the goddess Vimala during the Dasahara festival points clearly to the temple’s Shakta-tantric character, and Vimala is counted among the important Shakti Pithas of eastern India — indeed, no offering to Lord Jagannath is considered complete Mahaprasada until it has first been offered to her.
Other subsidiary shrines include those of Sakshi Gopala, Kanchi Ganesha, Panchasakhi Nilamadhava and Bhadrakali. The temple of goddess Laxmi is another architectural highlight, its walls carrying the classical Gajalakshmi motif — elephants pouring water over the goddess’s head — worked with striking artistic finesse. A further shrine, the Navagraha temple, houses images of the nine planetary deities and points to the growing importance of the Saura (sun-worship) cult during the Ganga era — the same devotional current that, at almost the same moment in history, produced the Sun Temple at Konark.
Anandabazar and Other Features
The Anandabazar is another notable site within the complex, where the Lord’s Mahaprasada is sold and eaten. Uniquely, men and women of every caste and creed take this prasada together at the same spot — a rare and striking expression of social equality within a sacred space. Beyond Anandabazar, the complex also includes the Koili Vaikuntha (associated with the periodic renewal of the deities’ wooden images), the Nilachala Upabana garden, and a recently opened museum.
Further reading: The Eastern Ganga Dynasty · Anantavarman Chodagangadeva · Anangabhimadeva III · Architecture of the Sun Temple at Konark · Architecture of the Lingaraj Temple
Frequently Asked Questions About the Jagannath Temple
Who built the Jagannath Temple at Puri?
Construction was most likely begun or substantially extended around 1136 CE by Anantavarman Chodagangadeva. The main structure was completed under Anangabhimadeva II around 1197–98 CE, as recorded in the Dasagoba copper-plate inscription, and the temple and kingdom were formally consecrated to Lord Jagannath by Anangabhimadeva III a little over a decade later.
How tall is the Jagannath Temple?
The main tower, or Vimana, rises 214 feet 8 inches (about 65 metres) above the inner sanctum, making it the tallest temple structure in Odisha.
What are the four structures of the temple?
The temple is composed of the Vimana or Deula (sanctum sanctorum), the Mukhashala (porch), the Natamandira or Jagamohana (dancing and audience hall), and the Bhogamandapa (offerings hall).
What is the Nila Chakra?
The Nila Chakra is the sacred eight-metal (Ashtadhatu) discus mounted atop the temple’s main tower, carved with eight Navagunjaras. It is the most revered physical symbol in the Jagannath cult and carries a fresh flag, the Patita Pavana, hoisted daily.
What are the four gates of the Jagannath Temple called?
The four gates are the Simhadvara (Lion Gate, east — the main entrance), the Asvadvara (Horse Gate, south), the Hastidvara (Elephant Gate, north) and the Vyaghradvara (Tiger Gate, the remaining side), each carrying its own religious symbolism.
What is the Baisi Pahacha?
The Baisi Pahacha is a flight of twenty-two steps just inside the main Simhadvara entrance, said to represent the twenty-two sins of human life; crossing them is believed to purify the pilgrim and confer religious merit.
Why is the Rosaghara called the largest kitchen in the world?
The Rosaghara prepares Mahaprasada daily for thousands of pilgrims, cooking rice and vegetables simultaneously in earthen pots stacked one on another over wood fires — a scale and method that has long led it to be described as the world’s largest temple kitchen.