Puri is the favorite quick weekend destination in Eastern India and during the Rath Yatra, this place becomes the focal point for religious tourism in India.

With just a week to go before the tourists pour into this holy city to participate in Puri Rath Yatra 2018, we thought of keeping you informed about tourist places in Puri you can visit to maximize your tour potential. Puri tourism allows you to explore those age-old temples, azure coastlines, and shop to your heart’s content. Assuming that you are planning a couple of day’s quick trips to Puri (in Orissa), here are some great places to visit in Puri within that limited time-frame. Coming up is your cheat code to plan a 48 hours trip to the Land of Lord Jagannath!

Morning: Seek Blessings at Jagannath Temple

It is quite evident that your first destination during the Puri trip would be the Puri Jagannath Temple. While the temple remains flooded with devotees during the Rath Yatra, it is not necessarily one of the tourist places in Puri meant solely for the religious minded travelers. The temple gives a fascinating insight into India’s ancient temple architecture. Built back in the 11th century by the king of Kalinga, Chodaganga, this is the most revered Lord Jagannath temple in the world. This huge temple is decorated with intricate carvings throughout and has a mammoth 20 feet wall. There are more than 120 smaller shrines inside the temple’s complex. Puri Jagannath temple has one of the largest kitchens in the world and this space is needed to cook 56 different dishes (as a part of the Mahaprashad) every day! The dishes are not only cooked for the Lord, this Prashad can be booked by thousands of devotees. While millions of devotees would be visiting the Puri Jagannath temple during Rath Yatra 2018 festivities, even on an average day the temple is thronged by more than 2000 devotees!

• Timings: 5 AM – 11 PM
• Tip: The Prashad offered to Lord Jagannath can be booked from the Temple Trust’s office in the early hours of the morning. The earlier you visit, the better it would be!