The brick-up of the humongous walls of the famed Puri’s Jagannath Temple in Odisha took three generations of time and energy. To the Hindu devotees, the temple is of paramount significance because it is one of the Char-Dham pilgrimages. It also serves as a strong historical foundation built in the year 1078, about a millennium ago. Millions of people visit Odisha to seek blessings from Lord Jagannath.
From this annual parade the English term Juggernaut shares its roots. But this is not the place’s only speciality! Any mysterious events without any scientific theories have caught the worldwide attention of the travelers. Here are few boggling facts about this-
1. Defying Nature’s Code of Conduct
Even a child knows that the wind controls any piece of fabric to travel according to its course. There are various variations of the same principle; from giant sails on your ship to a little flag in your pocket, they all obey the same rule. Yet it seems as if a rare exception to the theory is the flag raised on top of the Jagannath Temple.
2. The Climb
A priest scrambles the temple walls with a height equivalent to that of a 45-story building every day to change the flag at the top of the temple dome. This ritual dates back much to the day when the temple was built. The practice is done without any protective gear on bare hands. If the rite is one day omitted from the calendar it is assumed that the temple will be shut down for 18 years.
3. A light with no darkness
A required detail is shading while sketching it. Shading occurs when one part of the surface glows with sunshine leaving a shadow on the other, which eventually causes daylight. But, what if there is no shadow in something?
The temple is reported to have no shadow at all, from any direction possible at any time of the day. Could it be an architectural wonder or a message from the Lord Jagannath to mankind
4. The Riddle of The Sudarshan Chakra
There are two mysteries present in the shape of the Sudarshan Chakra at the temple pinnacle. The first oddity centers around the idea of how heavy metal weighing around one tonne, only got up there with a human body of the century, without any equipment.
With the same appearance the Chakra looks back from every direction you look. It is like it was built from every direction to look exactly the same.
5. Nothing’s Above God, So Nothing Fly Above It Either
The sky is the land of birds. We see birds all the time perched above our heads and rooftops, sleeping and flying. But this particular area is limited, not even a single bird is found above the temple dome, not even an aircraft could be seen floating above the temple.
This may be because Lord Jagannath does not want to disrupt the vision of his holy house!
6. The Food Is Never Futile Here
In Hindu mythology, wasting food is seen as a negative sign; the crew of the Temple does the same. A cumulative number of people who attend the temple range from 2,000 to 2,00,000 every day. Miraculously, every day cooked Parsadam never gets wasted, not even a slice. May it be an efficient administration or the will of the Lord?
7. Mute Water
Seconds, after you put the first step inside the temple from the entrance to Singha Dwara, the audibility to the waves of the oceans is completely lost. In the eveningtime, this trend becomes more common. No empirical explanation adds to this reality, once again. When you exit the temple, the sound returns.
8. Reverse gear of the Breeze
Taking some location on Earth, the wind from the sea arrives to land on the daytime and the reverse arises in the evening. However, in Puri, the wind appears to refute and go for the exact opposite direction. The breeze blows from land to sea in the daytime and the opposite happens in the evening.
9. Magical Methods to Cook
Here the priests retain the conventional method of cooking the Parsadam. Only seven pots are used as containers that are placed above each other and cooked using firewood. Enchantingly, first the top most pot is cooked and then the others obey the same order!
10. Deities Disintegration
Every 14 to 18 years the deities are buried, one above the other, replaced by new ones. These deities are made up of neem wood and believe to have disintegrated themselves.
11. The Rath Yatra
The Rath Yatra is an annual parade in which the deities are carried on 2 set of chariots (3 each) outside of the temple. The first chariot carries the deities to the river separating the Temple of Jagannath from the Temple of Mausi Maa. The idols are then taken on board in 3 boats to cross the water. Now comes the second chariot at play. It carries the deities from the river to Temple Mausi Maa when the rituals takes place.
