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PURI, or JAGANNATH
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See also:PURI, or JAGANNATH , a See also:town and See also:district of See also:British See also:India, in the See also:Orissa See also:division of See also:Bengal. The town is on the See also:sea-See also:coast, and has a railway station. Pop. (1901), 49,334, including an exceptional number of pilgrims. As containing the See also:world-famous See also:shrine of Jagannath (see See also:JUGGERNAUT), Puri is perhaps the most frequented of all See also:Hindu places of See also:pilgrimage. Sanitation is effected by the Puri Lodging-See also:House See also:Act, which provides for the See also:appointment of a See also:special See also:health officer, and for the licensing of lodging-houses both in the town and along the pilgrims' route. The DISTRICT OF' PURI has an See also:area of 2499 sq. m. The See also:population in 1901 was 1,017,284, showing an increase of 7.6% in the See also:decade. For the most See also:part the See also:country is See also:flat, the only mountains being a See also:low range which, rising in the See also:west, runs See also:south-See also:east in an irregular See also:line towards the Chilka See also:lake and forms a See also:water-parting between the district and the valley of the See also:Mahanadi. The See also:middle and eastern divisions of the district, forming the south-western part of the Mahanadi See also:delta, consist entirely of alluvial plains, watered by a network of channels through which the most southerly See also:branch of that See also:river, the Koyakhai, finds its way into the sea. The other See also:rivers are the Bhargavi, the Daya and the See also:Nun, all of which flow into the Chilka lake and are navigable by large boats during the See also:rainy See also:season, when the See also:waters come down in tremendous floods, bursting the See also:banks and carrying everything before them. The Chilka lake is one of the largest in India; its length is 44 m., and its breadth in some parts 20 m. It is separated from the sea only by a narrow See also:strip of See also:sand. The lake is saline and everywhere very shallow, its mean See also:depth ranging from 3 to 5 ft. Puri district is See also:rich in See also:historical remains, from the See also:primitive See also:rock-hewn caves of See also:Buddhism—the earliest See also:relics of See also:Indian See also:architecture—to the See also:medieval See also:sun See also:temple at Kanarak and the shrine of Jagannath. The See also:annual rainfall averages 58 in. Puri first came under British See also:administration in 1803. The only See also:political events in its See also:history since that date have been the See also:rebellion of the maharaja of Khurda in 1804 and the rising of the paiks or See also:peasant See also:militia in 1817-18. In the Orissa See also:famine of 1866 more than one-third of the population of Puri is said to have perished. The district suffered from drought in 1897. It is served by the East Coast railway, which was openedthroughout from See also:Calcutta to See also:Madras in 1851, with a branch to Puri town. See Puri District Gazetteer (Calcutta, 1908). Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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