Tales from the Island of Serendip

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The Rath Yatra is one of India's biggest festivals. Jagannath was originally a tribal deity assimilated into pan-Hinduism as an avatar of Vishnu 1700 years ago. The early tribal inhabitants of the state of Orissa were tree worshipers who called their god Jaganata. The icon of Jagannath is a carved and decorated wooden stump with large round eyes and with stumps as hands, with the conspicuous absence of any legs.

His temple sits at the end of the broad main street in the centre of Puri.

Like Benares, Puri is regarded as one of the Char Dham (sacred Hindu pilgrimage places) in India.

Every June, up to a million pilgrims visit Puri. When they leave, the diaspora typically carries an influx of cholera to all parts of India.

They come to celebrate as the effigies of Jagannath, his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra perambulate from the main temple to his summer palace, also known as "Auntie's house ", a distance of nearly 2 miles.

They travel in three massive wooden chariots drawn by devotees, known as raths.

It is from his name that we coined the word "juggernaut."

The rath of Jagannath is 45 feet high and 35 feet square and takes about 2 months to construct. Local artists decorate the cars with flower petals on the wheels, the wood-carved charioteer and horses, and the inverted lotuses on the wall behind the throne.

The 6 foot effigy of Jagannath is swallowed up in the seething crowds as it is brought out of the temple. An estimated 400,000 pilgrims attend this single event.

The ruling Ganga dynasty instituted the Rath Yatra at the completion of the great temple around 1150.

Friar Odoric of Pordenone visited India in 1316–1318 and later wrote an account of the festival.

Odoric's amazing journeys

William Bruton, the first English traveler to visit Puri and to see the Jagannath temple, wrote in 1630 that the image of Jagannath "is in shape like a serpent, with seven heads" and the holy pagoda is "the mirror of all wickedness and idolatry". Jagannath became known to Europeans as a pagan divinity of monstrous form. Bruton would not have been allowed into the temple to view the effigy, where non-Hindus are never allowed. So he may have misunderstood what he was told, that the God takes many forms according to ritual and myth - sometimes a warrior, sometimes a commoner, sometimes a king.

In reality, Jagannath is a symbol of tolerance and compassion. His worship uniquely reaches beyond the strict hierarchy of the caste system. He is universally revered by Sikhs, Jains, and Hindus of all sects. So much so that in reverence the local king acts as a lowly sweeper to clear the dust from Jagannath's path during the yatra. So revered is Jagannath that he is regarded by many as the original form of Vishnu from which all the other Vaishnite avatars derive - including Krishna and Rama.

Temple of the Sun

"Here the language of stone surpasses the language of man.”

Rabindranath Tagore

The Sun Temple at Konarak is a half ruined temple and simultaneously a glorious celebration of the harmony of life. It lies on the coast 30 kilometres south of Puri.

It is one of the seven wonders of India, and a world heritage site.

The Sun Temple, also known as "The Black Pagoda” was built in the 13th century and designed as a gigantic chariot of the Sun God, Surya, with twelve pairs of ornamented wheels pulled by seven horses. Some of the wheels are 3 meters wide.

Only six of the seven horses still stand today.

Owing to the weak foundations, the main vimana collapsed in the 19th century.