Rath Yatra 2025: The legend of why Lord Jagannath’s idol was left incomplete

Just about 10 more days, and the streets of Puri will be filled with the chant of ‘Jai Jagannath’. On Friday, June 27, Lord Jangannath, Balbhadra, and Devi Subhadra will leave their temple complex in Jagannath Puri temple, hop on a chariot, and travel to the Gundicha temple to meet their devotees.
Every year, this beautiful ritual takes place, and people come from all around the world to witness the Rath Yatra and touch the chariot just once, and earn ‘Punya’ of a lifetime.

For people in Orissa and those of the Vaishnav tradition, Lord Jagannath is a beloved deity. He is their son, their father, their elder brother, their protector, their God, and so much more.
While foreigners or non-Hindus are not allowed to enter the Jagannath temple in Puri, during the Rath Yatra, everyone has a chance to be around Lord Jagannath and his siblings.

Every year, before the Rath yatra begins, there is a time period of ‘Anavasara’ where it is believed that Lord Jagannath falls ill and this nobody is allowed to meet him. For 14 days, starting from ‘Snan purnima’, Lord Jagannath falls sick, particularly with cold because he was bathed with over 1000 ‘kalash’ of water, and the deities are then given herbal treatments in order to make them healthy again before they depart for Gundicha.

For many Hindus, Lord Jagannath is the epitome of being complete. With his large eyes he looks over the entire universe, keeping everything and everyone in check.
But one thing many notice is that the idol is incomplete as compared to other idols of Gods found in Indian temples. In Jagannath Puri, the deities only have large, round faces with big eyes, but no defined bodies. Why?
Well, one story says that King Indradyumna asked the divine sculptor Vishwakarma to carve an idol of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Devi Subhadra. Vishwakarma agreed, but said that till the idols are complete, nobody is allowed to see them.
Unfortunately, the Queen grew restless and opened the door where Vishwakarma was sculpting the idols. To their surprise, they saw that he had vanished, leaving behind an incomplete idol with just the face of Lord Jagannath fully completed.

While everyone knows that Lord Ram was cursed by Tara, Bali’s wife in the Ramayan, there is a popular story that is often told by elders to the young children about Lord Jagannath’s incomplete idol.
They say that when Lord Ram killed Bali from a hiding spot, he too did not like the deceiving way in which he killed Bali. So he placed Bali on his lap, and asked for punishment. To this, Bali said that because Lord Ram shot an arrow at him, his wrists would disappear and the tree behind which he hid would turn bitter.
And so in the next Yuga, the neem tree turned bitter, Lord Jagannath’s idol was sculpted without hands and wrist, and a Neem tree is now used to make the idol of Lord Jagannath.

Jagannath temple in Puri is filled with many more mysteries, rituals, legends, and more. For example, the flag of the temple always flows in the opposite direction to that of the wind, and is changed everyday by a priest who climbs to the top every single morning.
Then there is the third stair of the temple in Puri, which is called Yamashila, and it is considered negative to step on it.