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 Yes, the Lord of Puri is having his own pristine abode on the seashore of
Chennai. It might have been a dream some time back, but its taking excellent shape now, at
Kannathur, on the East Coast Road, about 20 kms from Adyar. For the onlooker the shrine
resembles a replica of Puri temple. The complex is nearing completion, because of the
untiring efforts of Sri Jagannath Spiritual Educational Cultural Trust.
The vigrahas of Lord
Jagannath, Balabhadra,
and Subhadra, along with Sudarshan brought from Puri have been installed in the meditation
hall. Whereas in all the temples, the God is worshiped along with His consort, only at the
Jagannath temple the importance is given to the sister along with her brothers. These
deities are made of ‘neem’ wood, that too from the same tree out of which
deities of the Puri temple are made. "Nowhere else it is like that. It is a special
feature here", says Dr. K.P. Misra, eminent cardiologist who is one of the Trustees
and coordinator of the Technical Committee. The columns and the concrete base of the
temple and the 22 steps leading to the sanctum sanctorum are all ready. Once the main
shrine is completed, hopefully before the end of this year, these deities will be shifted
to the sanctum sanctorum upstairs and then the Maha Kumbhabishekam will take place.
 It all started about 10 years back, with the blessings of the
Paramacharya of Kancheepuram. Dr. Misra narrates with reverential feelings, how he got the
consent from the Mahaswami, who asked him to go ahead with the project. Under His
instruction only the land was selected on the seashore, says Dr. Misra.
"Chennai was the only Metro which did
not have a temple for Lord Jagannath. So we wanted to build one here," he says. The
Utkal Association of Madras (UAM) which originally started the project has handed over the
management of the complex to the newly formed Trust sponsored by the Association. Besides
Dr. K.P. Misra, the Trust consists of Dr. S. S. Badrinath, Dr. S. N. Majhi and Mrs. Meena
Muthiah.
The total cost of the project is estimated to be around
Rs. 1.60 crores. The project is being carried
out by public donations. Built in an area of one acre, three shrines of Lord
Vinayaka, Maa
Vimala and Devi Lakshmi have already been completed. The deities after consecration have
been installed in the respective shrines.
Besides building a temple for Lord
Jagannath, the main idea of the trust is to have a spiritual complex at the site.
Explaining about the features of the project, Dr. Misra says,
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" Through this project,
we want to promote a healthy society over the strong foundation of spiritual, cultural,
educational and intellectual excellence."
 In addition to the beautiful shrine of Sri
Jagannath and a peaceful meditation hall, the complex will have a spiritual audio –
video library, a Vedic Research Institute with a library of spiritual and cultural books
and periodicals along with a museum of handicrafts from all the regions of the country.
"But for these additional facilities, another acre of land will be purchased in the
near future," adds Dr. Misra.
But above all, being a unique spiritual
complex, it will cater to people irrespective of caste, creed, colour, language,
nationality and religion. " Anyone who wants peace even if they do not believe
rituals can come here and beauty of Nature or meditate. The place will disseminate only
true spiritual joy, peace and brotherhood. Our idea is to make the complex the most
attractive and artistic spiritual centre" say the Trustees.
Though at the outset the shrine looks like a
replica of the Puri temple, there is unique synthesis of Kalinga and Tamil architecture.
The main tower (Gopuram) which resembles the temple tower of Puri is of---‘ in height
and is made of granite brought from Kancheepuram. As of now work is going on to finish
this tower after which Kumbhabishekam will be performed in an elaborate manner. Thirty
sthapathis are working to achieve this. Around the temple wall, icons representing the
South Indian architecture will be installed. " every where around the temple one can
see a synthesis of modern and ancient, orthodox and unorthodox and there will be mix of
Tamil and Oriya traditions," says Dr. Misra. For the past two years Rath Yathra was
also performed during the time it is done at Puri in June – July. This year it falls
on July 14.
A number of professors and students of
I.I.T (Chennai) are involved in designing and executing the project. With Dr. Misra as the
co-ordinator a technical committee comprising Prof. V. S. Raju, Prof. S. N.
Majhi, Prof. Y.C. Mohanty and Prof. P. K. Aravindan ahs been working to make the dream project come
true under the expert guidance of Sri. Ganapathy Sthapathi There is aesthetic beauty in
the design and construction. The entire complex will be carpeted with lush green lawns and
flower beds. Development of shopping complexes, vendors, etc. around the complex will be
totally discouraged since peaceful atmosphere around the place of worship is aimed at.
Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Swamigal of Kanchi
Kamakoti Peetam has gifted a beautiful idol of Lord Ganesh to the temple. Along with
another idol that had come from Orissa, there are two idols of Lord Ganesh in the same
shrine.
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