Puri & Ujjain Yatra

Holy city of Puri is famous for Lord Jagan Nath Temple, as this is one the four Dhams of Lord Vishnu as enunciated by Adi Guru Sri Shankaracharya-the great philosopher saint of Hinduism. We travelled to Puri from Delhi in Oct’11 through Puri Exp. Enroute the train got late by more than six hrs, because the railway track from Bhubaneswar to Puri is reportedly single track. It is better to take road journey from Bhubaneswar to Puri since the distance is about 60 km.  We stayed at Hotel Holiday Resort, C.T. Road 2km from railway station. The hotel was neat and clean, food was very nice without spices. Next day we visited temple at about 8am. Due to security reasons, mobile and cameras are not allowed. Even the leather articles like purses, belts etc are prohibited. There were a number of pandits outside the temple offering services @ Rs.21/=.  So we took the assistance of one Pandit. At one of the entrances of temple through Singhadwara, there is Puja Bhog office and the parshad can be purchased against proper receipt. Inspite of rush we got good darshan of Lord Jagan Nath Ji, brother Balram Ji & sister Subhadra Ji.  Pandit  Ji explained every minute detail of the temple & its idols .He also told us that these idols are made of wood. People in the temple told that Lord Jagan Nath comes in dream of Head Priest to tell him to make next idols from the divine tree so mentioned by the Lord every 12 yrs. Panditji did not ask us for any type of offerings at any idol.  Within the temple complex we visited Vimla Temple-one of the 52 Shakti peeths of Goddess Durga, Maha Lakshmi Temple, Mausi ka Temple & Lord Ganesh Temple.

 At the exit there is Food Bank managed by Anna Dan Bhog Committee for general public which is run on donations from public. During the day we visited Chilika Lake about 55km. from Puri. We took round of the lake in a motor boat & watched Dolphins, sea mouth (a place where Chilika comes in contact of sea i.e. Bay of Bengal), crabs, birds & pearls. It is advised that pearls may not be purchased from that place unless one has a knowledge of genuine pearls.

In the evening, on our return, we again visited temple at about 10 pm and got very good   glimpses of deities without any Pandit, as there were fewer devotees at that time & we stayed for about 15mts inside the temple.

Next day we visited Bhubaneswar and got darshans of Ling Raj temple, Kedar Gauri temple, Khandagiri Hills. Best part of Bhubaneswar trip was visit to Nandan Kanan zoo. There we took white lion & other lion safari. On way back, we visited Sakshi Gopal Temple.

On the last day of our stay at Puri we visited Konark temple i.e. Sun temple near sea shore. We took the assistance of a guide. He informed that images were engraved out of rock. According to him there used to be a magnet of 53 tonne at top of a tower which kept the balance of everything in temple complex. According to him the same was removed by the Britishers during their rule as this was creating navigational problems to the passing ships. He also told that the son of king committed suicide from the temple, so no prayers offered thereafter. The remains of temple have been preserved in a good way.

 We left for Ujjain via Puri Jodhpur Exp. on the same day & checked into hotel Shipra Residency run & managed by M.P.State Tourism Dev. Corp. The hotel was very good & room  nicely priced. On the next morning we visited Shri Mahakaleshwar Mandir, one of 12 Jyotirlings (as per Jyotirlinga Stotram) & got darshan of the Jyotirling in the queue. It is believed that this is a SWAYAMBHU & the most powerful Jyotirling. Parshad is sold by the management of the temple. Here too mobiles, cameras and leather articles were not allowed. Thereafter, we visited Bade Ganeshji. We were astonished to see idols of Panchmukhi Hanumanji. Char Dham temple-replicating four Hindu Dhams, Sandipani Ashram. In this ashram Lord Krishna studied during childhood. Panditji informed us that Lord Krishna came for studies on Kartik Shukl Navmi. According to him i.e. four days from that day Lord Shiva came to meet Lord Krishna. At sight of this Nandiji (vahan of Lord Shiva) stood up. In this temple the idol of Nandiji is in standing position, stated to be the only idol of Nandiji in standing position. We visited Shani & Nav Greh Temple. At Kal Bhairav Temple we saw that the idol was accepting whisky offered through plate & nobody knows where the whisky goes. Till this date it is still a mystery. We also visited Mangalnath Temple- a number of devotees were offering shanti prayers for calming Mangal Greha.

Same evening we checked into hotel Shreemaya, R.N.T.Marg, Indore. The hotel was excellent. Next morning we visited Omkareshwar & Amamleshwar temple. These are also one of the 12 Jyotirlings. We got beautiful darshan of jyotirlingas at both places. Both these temples are at two shores of Narmada  river. There is popular belief that once upon the request of Devas-the Shivlinga split into two. One can use the boat or overhead foot bridge to cross the river for reaching the other temple. On way back to Indore we took lunch at Punjabi Dhaba. The food was nice & at affordable rates. We returned to hotel in the afternoon. On enquiry we came to know about Chappan Duccan-a place where one can taste the food of Indore. But the taste of Delhi’s food was missing. Local people informed that food bazaar is also held at Saraffa Bazaar from 8.30 pm & continue till midnight.

 Next day we left for Delhi after visiting Kanch Mandir-Jain Temple, Rajwada-a Museum was also adjacent to it, Lal Bagh Palace-which used to be the residence of erstwhile king Holkars now converted into a museum & named after Nehru. One can skip visit to museum as it is in shamble.