Puri Jagannath Temple at Uthandi

This day, the 18^th of June, I’d been to the Puri Jagannath Temple in Uthandi, Chennai, Tamilnadu. The temple is situated about 16 kms from the Thiruvanmiyur Bus stop. It’s a straight drive from the Thiruvanmiyur Bus Stop along the East Coast Road, ECR.

The temple is in a beautiful location at a 300-400 feet from the shore. Built in the architecture very similar to that of the Puri Jagannath Temple, in Puri, Orissa, it stands apart from many other temples one can see in Tamilnadu. Temple architecture varies from place to place and changes gradually from North to South India but the final architectural comparison between northern and southern styles is drastic in variations.

I had been to the temple in the evening around half past six when it was still bright outside. There’s a large “Dhvajasthambha” or the Flag Post at the entrance that’s sculpted as standing on a tortoise. Such a structure is termed “Meru” in Temple Architecture. The flag post had also carved on it the “Dasavathars” or the Ten Incarnations of Lord Vishnu. It also had various divine creatures sculpted on it.

First is the Shrine of Ganesh. Then Kasi Viswanath, Maa Vimala, Maa Laxmi, Lord Jagannath and the Navagraha. The main Sanctum Sanctorum has the presiding deities of the temple, “Lord Krishna, Lord Balabhadra(popularly referred to as “Balram”) and their sister, Subhadra”. There is also the “Kalpatharu”, the tree under which are installed the Vahanas of the deities in the temple.

The Mooshika of Ganesh
The Peacock of Karthikeya
The Nandi of Shiva
The Simha of Shakthi
The Swan of Saraswathi
The Garuda of Vishnu
The Owl of Lakshmi
The Airavat of Indra

It was a full moon day. It coincided with the “Snaan Poornima” day (the Full Moon day on which Snaan(Bathing) takes place) in the temple wherein the main deities are brought forth out of the Sanctum Sanctorum and bathed and prepared for the Rath Yathra or the “Tour of the Chariot”, that happens every year. The priests performed the Mangal Arthi for the deities. It was a wonderful experience.

The moon was slowly going up the sky. Sitting at the steps, looking at the moon, with the wind from the seashore adding a comforting element to the already beautiful ambience of the temple was more than just beautiful.

The spire of the Temple was so majestic when looked at from beneath it. The hall beneath the Sanctum Sanctorum has paintings of the Zodiac and the Ramayan on its ceiling. There are three sculptures on the outer wall of the Sanctum Sanctorum. One was the Varaha Avatar, (the avatar of the boar), then Narasimha Avatar(the avatar of half-man, half-lion) and the scene where Lord Vishnu measures the three worlds with His all pervading form as Thiru Vikrama Perumal. The inner ceiling of the Sanctorum is vivid with a lot of beautiful paintings.

Uthandi is a place on the ECR. There are also buses running from Thiruvanmiyur to Kovalam, that’ll take you to Uthandi.