Varanasi to Puri

I had visited Puri in 1974 when my sister was working as a professor in Cuttack. It was with my mother, younger sister and my son who was two years old then. The memories were very pleasant.

On the train, as usual, we had delays, fellow travelers of all ages. There was a delay of more than an hour departing. The way we booked, we had to go to Howrah and board the next train to Puri. By the time we reached Howrah, the connecting train had left. We walked all over that station, trying to find a solution. We received lot of advice on the train to Howrah. One person was actually a railway employee. The alternatives were, we could go to Bhuvaneswar and take a bus from there. We could take a train to Cuttack and go to Puri from there. It was total confusion for us. To add to this, we found out that our ticket could not be used on other trains, even though it was not our fault. Now the negotiator inside of me said 'don't give up'. I found a railway porter who helped us in contacting the right person of the railway department and Rao got our tickets validated and we were able to board a train to Puri after a long wait and talk and explanation. We got the paper work in our hand and hence reached Puri with no problem. Anything is possible in spite of the red tape.Sri Jagannath must have loved us!!!! I don't think we paid much attention to our food and sleep with bigger challenges leading our lives.

We got accommodation for two days at Nilachal Yatri Nivas on Grand Avenue and is a unit of Shri Jagannath Temple Administration.. The room had one double bed for 250 rupees per night and the extra bed cot us 100 rupees. The hot water was available. Actually, there are two buildings there. The first one was very fancy and expensive. But the one in the interior was decent enough for us and the cost us reasonable. The young men at the reception desk were very helpful The Temple was not too far. Good food was available in nearby restaurants.
The first darsan was on the 26th. There was a lot of crowd and less discipline. We could not see much of the idol. The next dy, we were met by a guide who disappointed us again with the quality of his services. This time we spent only 90 rupees. I don't think we will ever learn a lesson!!! The next day, we decided to visit the other places like Sun Temple, Konark sculptures etc. I talked to an Auto rickshaw driver whom our hotel employees approved and made the arrangements.

The Jagannath Rath yatra (Jatra) is very famous. It is celebrated all over the world, but the one in Puri should be witnessed.
Ratha Yatra, the Festival of Chariots of Lord Jagannatha is celebrated every year at Puri, per vedic lunar calendar, it is celebrated on the 2nd day of the waxing moon in the month of Aashadha. The presiding deities of the main temple, Lord Jagannatha, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra, with the celestial wheel Sudarshana are taken out from the temple in an elaborate ritual procession to their respective chariots. The huge, colorfully decorated chariots, are drawn by hundreds and thousands of devotees on the The Grand Street, the grand avenue to the Gundicha temple, some two miles away. After a stay for seven days, the deities return to their abode. We just visited the location where all this would happen. This year the festival was on June 25th, I think.
Also, I vaguely remember we climbing up a steep set of stairs to see Narasimha Statue at the back of the Jagannath Temple. The website gives details of this temple.