Puri Jagannath Temple

Context:

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has asked the Odisha government to tweak its much vaunted Shree Mandira Parikrama Project (SMPP) — a massive beautification project around the 12th-century Jagannath temple in Puri — which has already run into a controversy. 

Relevance:

GS I- Art and Architecture

Dimensions of the Article:

1. Shree Mandira Parikrama Project (SMPP)
2. About Shree Jagannath temple
3. Architecture of Jagannath temple

Shree Mandira Parikrama Project (SMPP)

• The Rs 800-crore project will create an unobstructed 75-metre corridor around the Meghanada Pacheri (outer wall of the Shree Jagannath Temple).
• This is the biggest redevelopment project of temple surroundings in centuries.
• Upon completion, devotees will get an obstructed view of the temple from a distance.
• The corridor will also provide amenities for devotees and strengthen security

What exactly is the problem?

• The State government, it is claimed, does not have permission from the National Monuments Authority (NMA) or authorisation from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to plan.
• The project’s completion could jeopardise the temple’s centuries-old status.

About Shree Jagannath temple

• The Shree Jagannath Temple of Puri is an important Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Jagannath, a form of Vishnu, in Puri in the state of Odisha on the eastern coast of India.
• The present temple was rebuilt from the 10th century onwards, on the site of an earlier temple, and begun by King Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva, first of the Eastern Ganga dynasty.
• The Puri temple is famous for its Annual Ratha yatra, or chariot festival, in which the three principal deities are pulled on huge and elaborately decorated temple cars. These gave their name to the English term Juggernaut.
• Unlike the stone and metal icons found in most Hindu temples, the image of Jagannath is made of wood and is ceremoniously replaced every twelve or nineteen years by an exact replica.

Architecture of Jagannath temple

• The Temple of Jagannath at Puri is one of the major Hindu temples in India.
• The temple is built in the Kalinga style of architecture, with the Pancharatha (Five chariots) type consisting of two anurathas, two konakas and one ratha. Jagannath temple is a pancharatha with well-developed pagas. ‘Gajasimhas’ (elephant lions) carved in recesses of the pagas, the ‘Jhampasimhas’ (Jumping lions) are also placed properly.
• The perfect pancharatha temple developed into a Nagara-rekha temple.
• The temple is built on an elevated platform, as compared to Lingaraja temple and other temples belonging to this type.
• This is the first temple in the history of Kalingaan temple architecture where all the chambers like Jagamohana, Bhogamandapa and Natyamandapa were built along with the main temple.
• There are miniature shrines on the three outer sides of the main temple.

-Source: The Hindu