Puri is one of the most beautiful cities in the eastern Indian state of Odisha. The city lies in the shoreline of the Bay of Bengal. The city has one of the oldest temples known as the Jagannatha temple which was built in the 12th century. Because of this, the city is also known as the Sri Jagannatha Dham. It is one of the most sacred holy places for the Hindu religion and is one of the original Char Dham for the Hindus. It is also referred to as ‘Srikshetra’. It was close to Sisupalgarh in ancient days. And was known as ‘Ashokan Tosali’. However, the land got drained by a division of the Bhargavi River, which is a tributary of the Mahanadi River. Famous for Mahaprabhu Shri Jagannath and his annual car festival, ‘Ratha Yatra’. The clean sea beach and the marine drive has grabbed the tourist attention too.
Earlier the city was known as ‘Purushottamkshetra’ after the name ‘Purushottam’ of Lord Jagannath. According to General Alexander Cunningham, another ancient name of the town was ‘Charita’ which was later mentioned by the Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang as Che-li-ta-lo. Then on the importance of the place increased among the Vaishnavism. At a point of time, the place was called ‘Chhatar’. When the king Chodaganga Deva built the temple of the Lord Jagannatha and installed the images of the three deities, Shri Jagannath, Shri Balabadhra and Devi Shuvadra, the city gained its popularity and soon became famous. Around 12th centaury the name of the city changed to puri which means city or town in Sanskrit from jagannath .
Puri, being one of the oldest city, is believed that the Jagannatha Dham has been in existence since the beginning of humanity. When we look into the history, it has been attacked 18 times by the Hindu rulers as well as the Muslim rulers from 4th century A.D. till the early 19th century having a common objective of looting the treasure of the great temple. During the 16th to 18th century, this city was ruled to be the Mughal kings. Later on, the Maratha came into the power in this city in the 18th century. After that, the British took control and ruled it from1803 A.D. Puri was the capital of the province of Odisha as well as the headquarters of the collectors till 1816. Puri gained official recognition and was established in 1948.
Puri is a popular place of the pilgrimage from the time centuries old. And the antiquity of the site is well established. Various mentions have been made in multiple Vedas regarding Danuvigrah and Lord Jagannatha. Being one of the four Dhams of the country, it was never an exception to the rich culture, traditional view, and religion. Puri is a holy place which is first mentioned in the “Vanaprava of Mahabharat”. The importance of this holy city has been extravagantly described in Narada Purana, Kunuma Purana, Vishnu Purana, Padma Purana, and Skanda Purana. In the 7th century AD, King Indrabhuti, established a site idealising Buddhism flourished in Odisha, that is Vijrayana. In his eminent work Jhanasiddhi, he has worshipped Lord Jagannatha as an incarnation of Lord Buddha. After Adi Sankaracharya, the other four great Vaishnava Acharya, Vishnu Swami, Ramanuja, and Madhavacharya came to Puri. They started preaching and various teachings and philosophy about their religions.
Puri has always been the places of the Emperors and the Zamindars. Vigraha Dynasty ruled in Puri during the 2nd half of the 6th century. Then the kings of the Ganga Dynasty ruled over Puri.
Kapilendra Dev, Chodaganga Dev, Purusottam Dev, Anangavim Dev are some of the powerful kings during that time. They have built several temples during their period of the rule. Some of the temples are still there in the nearby places. The Jagannatha temple, the Sun temple, the Kapilash temple, etc. are some of the most excellent examples of the most beautiful arts and crafts and architecture of that time.
King Kapilendra Dev was one of the most powerful kings of that time. During his period, he captured several empires for which he was given the name “Nabakoti Karnatta Kalabargeswar Sri Sri Sri Kapilendra Deva”. A beautiful lie underneath this. He was a shepherd during his childhood but was quite bright. When he was with his cattle in the forest, he fell asleep under a tree. There a snake was sheltering him from the sun. His friends saw this incident and told everyone. A prediction started doing rounds from ear-to-ear and door-to-door he would be a king one day when he grew up. And astonishingly this prediction became the truth. He founded the Gajapati dynasty.
The second ruler from the Gajapati dynasty, King Purushottam Dev, during his visit, fell in love with the princess of Kanchi. He extended his proposal to the king of Kanchi and asked him the hand of his daughter. The kings used to sweep the chariot during the Car festival of Lord Jagannath. So the king of Kanchi denied and refused to give her daughter to a sweeper. This raged a war between the two kings in which the king of Kanchi was defeated.
Then the Bhoi Dynasty ruled over Puri for some days. Then the Maratha took power. At last, the Britishers took over the control. Still, now the king of Puri has a lot more priority during Car festival time for sweeping the chariots with a broom.
Puri, unlike its small name, has a very significant history. Being an old city, it has been one of the fastest-growing city of Odisha and a significant tourist attraction. Every year millions of pilgrim from all around the globe visit Puri. The beaches of the Puri, its Sunrise and sunset have its scenic beauty. Various plans are being made to make it a UNESCO World Heritage City. Despite being repeatedly affected by cyclones, the city still stands strong even today and can maintain its glory till date.