54. Jagannath Puri – Dasavatara Kshetra

Jagannath Puri – Dasavatara Kshetra:

Jagannath is Krsna, and Krsna is avatari-not an incarnation of the Lord, but rather the source of all incarnations. Srimad Bhagavatam describes, "Krsnas tu bhagavan svayam" - Krsna is the original Personality of Godhead. A similar statement is made about Lord Jagannath in the Skanda Purana, Utkal Khanda, 58th chapter.

tát phalam lalate martya

drsta Sri purusottama

dasavatara samjnasya

katitah putra te maya

The results obtained from the darsana of all of the 10 incarnations of the Lord are available simply by once having darsan of Sri Purushottama, Lord Jagannath.

Therefore Puri is also sometimes called Dasavatara Kshetra; the place of the 10 incarnations. Aside from His different daily dresses, Lord Jagannath occasionally accepts the garb of some of His Vishnu incarnations; and over the course of the year, He is offered several other unique dresses.

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