Meaning of Jagannath

ଶ୍ରୀଜଗନ୍ନାଥ ଶବ୍ଦର ମାହାତ୍ମ୍ୟ: 

   Lord Jagannath is the Lord of universe according to his name. He is considered as form or avatar of Lord Vishnu. He is the symbol of love and brotherhood. He is worshipped along with his brother lord balram and sister Devi subhara , Sudarshan(chakra), Madhaba, Sridevi and Bhudevi on ratna vedi (jeweled platform).

   Always idol of Lord Jagnnath is in right side and idol of Lord Balaram in left and Devi Subhadra is in center. The idols of these 3 deities are made up of neem woods.The idols are decorative wooden stumps having large round eyes (chakaa aakhi) and have stumps as hands, while idol of Devi Subhadra has no hands. The idols of these 3 deities have no legs. These idols are

called as Daaru brahma.

    A year which has two months (Adhika masa) of Ashadha as per the Hindu Calendar , the deities change their bodies.   This is known as Navakalebar or New Body Ceremony. In this ceremony Idols of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarshan are replaced by a new set of Idols. This usually occurs every twelve to nineteen years. Last four new body ceremonies of the deities was celebrated in the year 1950 , 1969, 1977 and 1996.Next ceremony will be held on 2015. 

Temple: 

    Puri is the dwelling place for lord jagannath. The place is also known as jagannath dham. This temple is very famous as well as biggest temple of odisha. This temple is one of among the chardham (prilgrimage place for hindus). This temple is enclosed by large wall about 7 meters high and this wall is named as meghanaada paacheri. This wall has 4 gates facing 4 directions (east,west,north and south). The gate facing to the east has two icons of lions and it is called as lion gate. This is the main entry gate for visitors.

The north, south and west facing gates are similarly known as the Elephant Gate, the Horse Gate and the Tiger Gate respectively as the gates hold the icons of respective names. The grand avenue in front of lion gate is locally known as Bada danda.

There is a huge pillar of 10 meters high in front of the Lion gate. This pillar is known as the Aruna Stambha. The idol of lord aruna is on the top of the pillar. After main gate (lion gate) there are 22 flights of steps. Locally, the steps are called Baisi Pahacha. These steps leading to the main temple. On the left-hand side a vast kitchen area of the temple. On the right-hand there is a place of market for selling food. This is called mahaprasada. It also has place to sit and eat those food (mahaprasada)

Besha: 

   Besha means dress or costume. Every day from the ‘Mangala Alati’(in morning) to ‘Ratri Pahuda’(at night) the deities are dressed.

1.Daily besha

2.Bada Shrungar Besha:

3.Sadha Besha 

4.Adakiya Besha

5.Bamana Besha

6.Bankachuda Besha

7.Banabhoji Besha

8.Chandana Laggi Besha

9.Chacheri Besha

10.Dalikia Besha

11.Gajananna Besha

12.Ghodalagi Besha

13.Gaja Uddharana Besha

14.Harihara Besha

15.Jamalagi Besha

16.Krishna Balaram Besha

17.Kaliya Dalana Besha

18.Nagarjuna Besha

19.Naba Jaubana Besha

20.Nabanka Besha

21.Pralambasura Badha Besha

22.Padma Besha

23.Raghunatha Besha

24.Radha Damodar Besha

25.Shradha Besha

26.Suna Besha

27.Tahiyalaggi Besha

28.Thiakia Besha