Puri ପୁରୀ |
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City/Tourist Attractions | |
Montage of Puri City
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Nickname(s): ପବିତ୍ର ଧାର୍ମିକ ସହର Spiritual City |
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Coordinates: 19°48′38″N 85°49′53″E / 19.81056°N 85.83139°ECoordinates: 19°48′38″N 85°49′53″E / 19.81056°N 85.83139°E | |
Country | India |
State | Odisha |
District | Puri |
Government | |
• Body | Puri Municipality |
Area | |
• Total | 16.3268 km2 (6.3038 sq mi) |
Elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
Population (2011) | |
• Total | 201,026 |
• Density | 12,000/km2 (32,000/sq mi) |
Language | |
• Official | Odia |
Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
PIN | 75200x |
Telephone code | 06752 |
Vehicle registration | OD-13 |
Website | odisha |
Puri ( listen ) (Odia: ) 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 kilometres (37 mi) south of the state capital of Bhubaneswar. It is also known as Jagannath Puri after the 12th-century Jagannath Temple located in the city. It is one of the original Char Dham pilgrimage sites for Hindus.
Puri is known by several names since the ancient times, and was locally known as "Shrikhetra" and Lord Jagannath temple is known as "Badadeula". Puri and the Jagannath Temple were invaded 18 times by Hindu and Muslim rulers, from the 4th century AD till the early 19th century with the objective of looting the treasures of the temple. Odisha, including Puri and its temple, were under the British Raj from 1803 till India attained independence in August 1947. Even though princely states do not exist in India today the heirs of the Gajapati Dynasty of Khurda still perform the ritual duties of the temple. The temple town has many Hindu religious maths or monasteries.