Jagannath Temple, Puri

Jagannath Temple, Puri tickets and tours: which one to book

There is no ticket for the Jagannath Temple. Entry is free for Hindus, who join the queue at the main gate after depositing phones, cameras, bags and any leather items at the counters outside, while non-Hindus are not permitted inside the walls at all, a rule the temple enforces strictly. Foreign visitors and non-Hindu Indians usually see the complex from the rooftop of the Raghunandan Library, opposite the main gate on Grand Road, where a small donation is expected. What is sold online are guided trips in which the temple is one element of a wider programme.

One is a two-day pilgrimage-style tour of Puri and the coast, with car, driver and guide, which typically adds the Sun Temple at Konark and the beach; hotel nights and the guide are usually included, entrance fees and meals sometimes extra. Another is a long full-day drive from northern Odisha that combines Baripada with Puri. Hindu travellers sometimes arrange a pandit through the guide to help with darshan and offerings, which saves time in the crowds; agree the fee clearly beforehand. For non-Hindus, a guide is still worthwhile to explain the architecture, the rituals and the great kitchen from outside, and to walk the lanes of the old town around the temple.

Visiting Jagannath Temple, Puri: what to see and how to behave

The temple is one of the four great pilgrimage sites of Hinduism, the Char Dham, and the home of Jagannath, a form of Vishnu worshipped with his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra. The present temple was begun in the 12th century by King Anantavarman Chodaganga of the Eastern Ganga dynasty, on a site sacred long before. Its curved stone tower, about 65 m high, is a classic example of Kalinga architecture and dominates the town; on its summit sits a wheel of eight metals and a flag that priests climb up to change every day. Two concentric walls enclose the complex, pierced by four gates. The main one, the Lion Gate on the east, faces Grand Road, and in front of it stands a tall stone pillar topped by the charioteer Aruna, brought from Konark.

Inside are the main sanctuary, an assembly hall, a dance hall, an offering hall and more than a hundred subsidiary shrines. The deities are carved from wood rather than stone and are replaced in an elaborate ceremony every 12 or 19 years. The temple kitchen is said to be the largest in the world, cooking food in clay pots over wood fires for thousands of people a day; the blessed food, mahaprasad, is sold in the Ananda Bazar inside the walls. Hindu visitors should expect dense crowds, priests asking for donations and a strict ban on photography. Non-Hindus can absorb the atmosphere along Grand Road and from the library rooftop. The temple is about 1 km inland from the beach and 60 km from Bhubaneswar airport.

Jagannath Temple, Puri: opening hours, ceremonies and the best time to go

The temple is open from early morning, around 5 am, until late at night, with short closures during the day when the deities are fed and dressed. The early morning and late evening are the most atmospheric times for darshan. For the rooftop view, come in the morning when the light falls on the main tower and Grand Road is busy but not yet jammed. The great event of the year is the Ratha Yatra in June or July, when the three deities are pulled through Puri on huge wooden chariots by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims.

It is unforgettable but overwhelming; hotels fill and prices soar. The bathing festival of Snana Purnima a couple of weeks earlier is also very busy. The best season for visiting is October to March, when the coast is warm rather than sweltering; the monsoon brings heavy rain from June to September. Allow two to three hours for darshan in normal times, or an hour for the rooftop view and a walk along Grand Road. Combine the temple with Konark, about 35 km up the coast, and the beach.