PURI- -THE ABODE OF LORD JAGANNATH
The blue waves of Bay of Bengal wash itsfeet,
The sand beach dazzles with sunlight,
Puri, the abode of Lord Jagannath
A sacred land of devotees throughout the world.
It is one of the four 'Dhamas'of India
A place in Odisha on eastern coast
'Nilasaila', the temple of Lord Jagannath otherwise known.
Seated on 'Ratna Simhasan', the bejewelled throne
Are brothers and sister, trio
Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Lordess Subhadra,
The wooden idols of Hindu religion
made from 'Daru', the neem wood, incomplete in form,
They truly represent confluence of many religions
The idols are of three colors, black, white and yellow
representingthree major races like black, white and mongoloid
Strange are their looks as they are incomplete in form
Yet love and grace flow from their eyes
hands stretched as if to take you in embrace.
Lord Jagannath, incarnation of Lord Krisna,
loves to listen Sanskrit verse 'Gita Gobinda'
composed by Jayadeva, the Odia poet from the village Kendubilwa.
Beautiful verses of Geeta Gobinda depict lovesport
between Lord Krisna and his beloved Radha
The daily ritual of Jagannath temple would be incomlete
Unless the Lord hearsHis most loved music.
Blue bay! Bray, ray, day! ! To stay with life and, To enhance your status; Only with the muse of the truth. Thanks for sharing this poem with us.
I know too little about the many religions in India included the tempel history. From a recent visit to India, I only know that there are many celebrations for each religion. They are all magnificent celebrations. About Puri - The Abode Of Lord Jagannath is such an impressing history, Thank you so much for sharing, dear Bharati. With my least knowledge about this, I could manage to read this
Thank you Bharati Nayak. Your poetic description of the Jagannath temple is inspiring and charming.My aspiration to visit the temple has not yet been materialised. We have a Krishna Temple at Aranmula where the idol of Balarama is consecrated. Its a very old and popular temple of Travancore.
I just do not know - why my previous reply to your comment could not be posted. Thank you very much for your kind visit to my poem.Hope you will visit Odisha some day and visit Jagannath temple at Puri as well as famous Surya temple at Konark.(near Bhubaneswar) .
Part 2 About Geeta Govindam. My father used to sing one chapter of this great composition by Jayadeva everyday, as part of his Sandhyanaama Japam. That was, after reciting a part of Shrimad Maha Bhagawatam. Now, every morning, I listen to Geeta Govindam (as we pronounce it) , on the loud speakers from the nearby Lord Krishna Temple. In Kerala, you will find temples dedicated to Lord Krishna, in every village. My little village is no exception.
Hi Bharati, Lovely poem on Lord Jagannath of Puri. Lord Krishna is the presiding deity of Guruvayur too. But the difference is the absence of Lord Balarama and Goddess Subhadra. For that matter, I don’t remember any temple dedicated to Lord Balarama and Goddess Subhadra, even as Upadevas.
(Part-2) During Rathayatra (Car festival) the three idols are carried on three 'Ratha's namely Taladhwaja, Debadalan and Nandighosa , pulled by devotees to Mausima temple, the place of their birth.There they stay for nine days and on the tenth day there is another festival called Bahuda Yatra when the Lords are carried back to Shree Mandir (The main temple)
Thank you Unnikrishnan E.S. for kindly reading and appreciating my poem.There has been many researches into the history and philosophy of Jagannath culture.My knowledge in this regard is very limited.(Part-1)
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Such a beautiful poem with lots of information. I was ignorant of many of the facts and thanks for sharing them in a poetic way. You are a genius.10+++++++
Thank you so much Anil Kumar Panda for your valuable feedback.