Puri is a city and a municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, 60 kilometers (37 mi) south of the state capital of Bhubaneswar. It is also known as Sri Jagannatha Dhama after the 12th-century Jagannatha Temple located in the city.
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. 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.
Together with Varanasi, it is considered to be one of the holiest places in India to Hindus, and part of the Char Dham pilgrimage. The Char Dham is a set of four pilgrimage sites ie. Badrinath, Dwaraka, Puri, and Rameswaram.
Holy Temples: The Char Dham of Rameswaram, Dwarka, Puri, and Badrinath.
- Katra, home to the Vaishno Devi temple
- Puri home to Vaishnava Jagannath temple and Rath Yatra celebration
- Tirumala – Tirupati, home to the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple
- Sabarimala home to Swami Ayyappan
- the Shakti Peethas
- the twelve Jyotirlingas
- the seven Sapta Puri
- the Pancha Bhoota Stalam