Jagannath Temple
— — the tower the chariots are pulled toward.
Not only on a wall.
“The white tower above Puri, a few hundred metres from the Bay of Bengal. The main spire rises about 65 metres above the coastal plain and is visible from far down the beach. Each summer the deities are brought out and pulled along the Grand Road on three enormous wooden chariots, the Rath Yatra, in front of crowds that fill the whole avenue. The temple itself has stood on this site since the twelfth century. from the studio
Jagannath Temple, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
The Jagannath Temple stands in Puri, on the coast of Odisha in eastern India, about 60 kilometres south of the state capital, Bhubaneswar. Construction was completed in the twelfth century under the Eastern Ganga king Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva, with the main tower rising about 65 metres above the coastal plain. It is one of the four sacred Char Dham pilgrimage sites of Hindu tradition, alongside Badrinath, Dwarka, and Rameswaram. The temple complex covers roughly four hectares and is enclosed by two concentric walls.
The temple's calendar centres on the Rath Yatra, the chariot festival held each year in June or July on the second day of the bright fortnight of Ashadha. The three principal deities, Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Subhadra, are brought from the sanctum and placed on three massive wooden chariots that are newly built each year. Devotees pull the chariots along the three-kilometre Grand Road to the Gundicha Temple, where the deities stay for nine days before the return procession. Estimated attendance routinely exceeds one million.
The temple is open to Hindu devotees only, a restriction the temple administration has maintained for centuries; non-Hindu visitors can view the spire from the rooftop of the Raghunandan Library across the road. Visiting hours run roughly 5:00 to 22:00, with several daily ritual cycles, including the famous afternoon Mahaprasad meal that feeds thousands. Puri is reached by direct trains from Kolkata and Bhubaneswar; the nearest airport is at Bhubaneswar, about 90 minutes by road.