Gundicha Temple

History

Incredible India records that the temple is named after Queen Gundicha, wife of King Indradyumna; her devotion was so deep that Lord Jagannath promised to visit her home every year. Another tradition calls it the home of the deities’ aunt, who prepares padoapitha, a rice delicacy, for them.

Built in the Kalinga style of light grey sandstone, the temple stands in a garden inside a wall 20 feet high and 5 feet wide, and has four parts: vimana, jagamohana, natamandapa and bhogamandapa. Its Ratnavedi is the raised seat on which Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra sit during their stay; the deities enter by the western gate and leave by the eastern Nakachana gate.

During Rath Yatra, also called Gundicha Yatra, Nava Dina Yatra or Ghosa Yatra, the chariots come here along the Bada Danda and the deities stay for seven days, giving devotees the Adapa Darshana. Odisha Tourism’s packaged temple tour includes Gundicha on its Puri day with Alarnatha.

Stories

Jagannath's Aunt and Her Home

One legend ties the temple's name to a local goddess Gundicha, a form akin to Durga worshipped to cure smallpox. She is considered Jagannath's aunt, and the temple is therefore remembered as the home of his Mausi, whom he visits with his brother and sister every year.

Another legend names Queen Gundicha, wife of the legendary king Indradyumna, who is said to have glimpsed the divine image being made and urged her husband to build the temple and begin the Rath Yatra. The stories differ, but all explain why the deities leave their main temple once a year.

The Nine-Day Stay at the Garden House

Gundicha Temple stands in the middle of a garden about three kilometres from the main Jagannath temple, at the far end of the Bada Danda, the grand avenue along which the chariots travel. It is called the garden house of Jagannath and stays empty for most of the year.

A day before the Rath Yatra it is cleansed to receive the deities. They enter through the western gate and stay for seven full days, nine counting the days of arrival and return. They leave by the eastern Nakachana gate.

A Kalinga Temple of Grey Sandstone

The temple is built of light-grey sandstone in the Kalinga style, with a deula tower. Its four parts are the vimana, jagamohana, nata-mandapa and bhoga-mandapa, and a kitchen is joined to the complex by a small passage. The whole stands inside a compound wall. In the sanctum the deities are placed on the Ratnavedi, a plain platform of chlorite about four feet high and nineteen feet long.

Good to know

Odisha Tourism temple-tour — Gundicha Temple, Puri

Rath Yatra destination along Grand Road

Associate shrine of the Jagannath triad

Getting there

Puri town; walk or cycle rickshaw from Jagannath Temple along Grand Road (~3 km). Puri Junction railway station.