Flex Mentallo

It is one of the seven wonders of India, and a world heritage site.

The Sun Temple at Konarak is a half ruined temple and simultaneously a glorious celebration of the harmony of life. It lies on the coast 30 kilometres south of Puri.

"Here the language of stone surpasses the language of man.” Rabindranath Tagore

Temple of the Sun

In reality, Jagannath is a symbol of tolerance and compassion. His worship uniquely reaches beyond the strict hierarchy of the caste system. He is universally revered by Sikhs, Jains, and Hindus of all sects. So much so that in reverence the local king acts as a lowly sweeper to clear the dust from Jagannath's path during the yatra. So revered is Jagannath that he is regarded by many as the original form of Vishnu from which all the other Vaishnite avatars derive - including Krishna and Rama.

William Bruton, the first English traveler to visit Puri and to see the Jagannath temple, wrote in 1630 that the image of Jagannath "is in shape like a serpent, with seven heads" and the holy pagoda is "the mirror of all wickedness and idolatry". Jagannath became known to Europeans as a pagan divinity of monstrous form. Bruton would not have been allowed into the temple to view the effigy, where non-Hindus are never allowed. So he may have misunderstood what he was told, that the God takes many forms according to ritual and myth - sometimes a warrior, sometimes a commoner, sometimes a king.

Friar Odoric of Pordenone visited India in 1316–1318 and later wrote an account of the festival. Odoric's amazing journeys

The ruling Ganga dynasty instituted the Rath Yatra at the completion of the great temple around 1150.

The 6 foot effigy of Jagannath is swallowed up in the seething crowds as it is brought out of the temple. An estimated 400,000 pilgrims attend this single event.

The rath of Jagannath is 45 feet high and 35 feet square and takes about 2 months to construct. Local artists decorate the cars with flower petals on the wheels, the wood-carved charioteer and horses, and the inverted lotuses on the wall behind the throne.

It is from his name that we coined the word "juggernaut."

They travel in three massive wooden chariots drawn by devotees, known as raths.

They come to celebrate as the effigies of Jagannath, his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra perambulate from the main temple to his summer palace, also known as "Auntie's house ", a distance of nearly 2 miles.

Every June, up to a million pilgrims visit Puri. When they leave, the diaspora typically carries an influx of cholera to all parts of India.

Like Benares, Puri is regarded as one of the Char Dham (sacred Hindu pilgrimage places) in India.

His temple sits at the end of the broad main street in the centre of Puri.

The Rath Yatra is one of India's biggest festivals. Jagannath was originally a tribal deity assimilated into pan-Hinduism as an avatar of Vishnu 1700 years ago. The early tribal inhabitants of the state of Orissa were tree worshipers who called their god Jaganata. The icon of Jagannath is a carved and decorated wooden stump with large round eyes and with stumps as hands, with the conspicuous absence of any legs.

Juggernaut

A disaster for me is when I actually win some books. In that respect this was one of my more successful auctions.

A Doiby cover Green Lantern..wouldn't have picked that with a hundred guesses. What's next? Snowman cover Action, Hat cover Leading??? Don't even think it Russ.

They celebrate the maker of universes whose city this is.

Long after my visit, local art students began to make sand art that reflects the spiritual city in whose shadow they create their own universes.

In the blazing midday sun, children play while adults sleep, oblivious that scant yards away, the holy city of Puri beckons to a million pilgrims every year.

Having offloaded their catch, the fishermen head back out. They will fish, and eat, and sleep upon the ocean.

Buffalo carts plod along parallel to the tideline.