Shri Jagannath Temple
Shri Jagannath Temple
The Jagannath Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Jagannath, a form of Vishnu in Hinduism. It is located in Puri in the state of Odisha, situated on the eastern coast of India. As per temple records, King Indradyumna of Avanti built the main temple of Jagannath at Puri.
The present temple was rebuilt from the tenth century onwards, on the site of the pre-existing temples in the compound, but not the main Jagannath temple, and begun by Anantavarman Chodaganga, the first king of the Eastern Ganga dynasty.
The temple is sacred to all Hindus, and especially in those of the Vaishnava traditions. Many great Vaishnava saints, such as Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya, Nimbarkacharya, Vallabhacharya and Ramananda were closely associated with the temple.
The temple was rebuilt by the King of the Eastern Ganga dynasty, Anantavarman Chodaganga, in the 10th century CE , as described by the Kendupatna copper-plate inscription of his descendant, Narasimhadeva II and Rajendra Chola from the mother side. According to legends in Madala Panji, the construction of the first Jagannath temple was commissioned by King Indradyumna, a Malava king, mentioned in the Mahabharata and the Puranas.
