The imposing Puri Jagannath Temple at Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, is awesome!

The Jagannath Temple at Banjara Hills, Hyderabad with 70 feet high Gopuram / Shikhara, built as a replica of the Puri Jagannath Temple, Orissa, on a vast land of 3000 sq. yards is awesome, as you can see in the above pictures.

Sri Jagannath is Lord of the Universe; he is Sri Krishna that is Sri Maha Vishnu. Jagan means Universe and Nath means Lord and hence Jagannath means Lord of the Universe. Sri Jagannath is considered as the supreme solace and savior of countless devotees around the world, since ancient times. His most important, monumental and magnificent Temple is at Sri Purushotham Kshetra, at the coastal town of Puri, in the State of Orissa. The Temple is a very sacred place of pilgrimage, it is a part of Char Dham, four pilgrimages that a Hindu is expected to visit during his lifetime and worship. The main deities at the Temple are of Sri Jagannath and his brother, Sri Balabhadra and sister, Ma Subhadra. The deities are made of wood from a divine and fragrant tree. This Temple was built in the 11th century.

The Puri Jagannath Temple at Hyderabad is a modern one, built by the Oriya community – Kalinga Cultural Trust of Hyderabad, and was opened to devotees on 8th March 2009. The Kalinga Cultural Trust has worked for more than a decade to obtain the land and build the Temple. It is a replica of the Temple at Puri but a smaller one. Yet it looks very imposing, with the Temple built on an elevated platform and with a 70 feet high Gopuram. The main deities at this Temple are also sculpted out of wood from Orissa, as at the Puri Temple. Apart from the huge and beautiful Temple of Sri Jagannath at the center , the Temple Complex has Shrines of Sri Lakshmi, Sri Vimala (Sri Parvathi Devi), Lord Shiva, Lord Ganesha, Sri Anjaneya and Navagrahas. The entire Temple Complex appears brick read as it is built / carved out of Sand Stone from Orissa. It is said that 600 tonnes of Sand Stone has been used for building the Temple. All rituals at the Temple are carried out just as in Puri, including the annual Rath Yatra that is Chariot Festival.  

Obviously, the Temple has become very popular and is attracting many devotees and tourists.