Anchored in Jagannath Puri

21, 22, 23 Jan 2024

A place that has special importance in my life as my grandfather was named after the Lord. To me Puri is always Jagannath Puri. In just 30 mins from Raghurajpur I reached my Hotel Mahodadhi palace on Puri Beach. 

Mahodadhi Palace was literally a home away from home. The staff is very caring. Impressed as I was solo. I had booked only one night here but cancelled my booking in a different hotel and requested these guys to accommodate for 2 more days. A four poster bed, a private portico, tub 🛀 to bathe. A diner looking over the beach road. Old world charm on the Jagannath Puri beach. Just had to cross the street to go to the beach. What more could a person ask for? 

They exceeded my expectations when the staff fetched me an EV auto at 4.30 am when I was going for darshan. They even offered me Panda or poojari service which I politely turned down. 

It is now taken over by Orchid so there were repairs going on. The way forward should be better. They have a Vitthal Kamat restaurant at the beach road front on this property which needs improvement. 

The first evening I went to Honey Bee Cafe which I loved for the ambience and decided to do dinner there. Read the review on AnnaParabrahma.

The next two evenings I spent on the Puri beach. Walking around and enjoying the wonderful snacks. I never bothered about dinner. The sweet sellers with their kavadis kept me well fed on shingadas, rasgulla, Madan Mohan and Chenna poda. A pack of jhal mudi and then tea to round off my indulgences was a perfect evening in Puri.

Hrishikesh Nayak sand artist a permanent fixture here

The day time I thought I shall dedicate to the Jagannath. On the 22 Jan I decided to have a head bath, wore new clothes and went to the🛕 temple. It was the day of Ram Lalla punar sthapna in Ayodhya so all the temples across Bharat were doing a special pooja in the morning. The CM of Odisha was inside the temple so all the pilgrims were held outside the temple in the waiting area for 2 hrs. 

The line finally moved and we went into the mandap and all hell broke loose. Push push shove shove. 

I was overwhelmed by the crowd and what to expect, where to look and from how much distance? our bhaav or emotion is not enough. There has to be a strategy for darshan! 

I complained to the police there who keep tapping with bamboo fans on the pilgrims heads asking them to move on. I told him I did not see the Lord whom I have come from so far to see. He told me to wait for 20 mins and then led me in front of the sanct sanctorium. Still no success! I did get a glimpse of something. Was it Balabhadra or Subhadra? Not Jagannath surely! 🥹

So here are my tips for darshan after 3 visits. 

1. Go for darshan in the morning at 5am. Just after Aarti the pilgrims are allowed to the first door of the sanct sanctorium. This is the closest one can go. 

2. Go from right and move to left so you get darshan of all three deities, Jagannath on right, Subhadra in the center and Balbhadra on left. 

3. Jagannath is black, Subhadra yellow and Balbhadra is white. 

4. I got mool roop darshan in the morning on my 3rd attempt so that must be possible every day at 5 am.

5. See with open eyes when you go for darshan. Don’t close your eyes in obeisance. Fill him in your heart as much as possible.

6. Day time darshan and Night time darshan both are from 3rd door so it’s very far. 

7. If you wear spectacles please wear them and go for darshan. 

8. This is one of the Dhaam from Chaar Dhaam Yatra. It was my first one.

While first day I went at 9 am then at 9pm and then on third day I went in the morning at 5am. That’s when I got the darshan to my satisfaction! 

JAI JAGANNATH 🙏🏽

Jagannath darshan is incomplete without darshan of Bimala Devi so don’t miss it. The temple is behind the main temple on the left within the complex. Bimala Devi is the first Shakti peeth hence important in tantra worship. 

You can go around the temple kitchen and watch food being prepared for Mahaprasad bhog. Later go to Anand Bazar and have bhog there. It’s a system that Adi Shankaracharya started in Jagannath Puri and is emulated by all temples across Odisha. Food is cooked in the temple kitchens by the temple cooks. For a small cost bhog is available to pilgrims to eat there itself. Also buy dry prasad of khaja and other things to bring home.