Three deities are worshipped here: Lord Jagannath; the elder brother, Lord Balbhadra; and younger sister, Goddess Subhadra. The richly adorned deities are placed deep within a temple complex built in the Kalinga architectural style, which features honeycomb towers and many smaller temples within the main complex. It’s often very crowded, thronging with pilgrims and local devotees, and is especially so during the annual Rath Yatra festival.
Only Hindus are allowed in the temple, but other travelers to Puri can admire the scene from outside.
Entrance to the temple is free.
There are a few rules to observe in the temple: Bathe before coming and wear clean clothes (without any leather), follow the queue system, and only eat vegetarian food on the premises.
Worshipping the deity statue (darshan) is not permitted in the 15 days following the full moon during the month of Jyestha (May–June).
The temple is in central Puri, a city on the coast of Odisha that’s about 37 miles (60 kilometers) south of Bhubaneshwar. The temple is about 1.8 miles (3 kilometers) from the Puri Railway Station, and about 1.2 miles from the Puri Bus Stand. Taxis and auto-rickshaws can shuttle visitors from these transit hubs to the temple.
The temple is open from early morning until late evening, and devotees gather most intensely around sunrise and sunset. Around 12 major festivals are held at the temple throughout the year, but one of the most important—and the most famous—is the Rath Yatra, when three chariots are pulled through the streets of Puri. It’s held in the Hindu month of Ashadha, which usually falls sometime in June.
English has adopted many words from Sanskrit and other Indian languages over the centuries, and one of these is “juggernaut,” which actually comes from the Sanskrit Jagannath. Juggernaut in English means something that is unstoppable, powerful, and dominant, and originates from the Puri temple’s Rath Yatra festival, when powerful, dominant, and possibly unstoppable chariots are pulled through Puri by devotees.
