Puri is a coastal city and a municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, 60 kilometres south of the state capital of Bhubaneswar. It is located at 19’ 28 N Latitude 26’ 35 N, 84’ 29 E. Longitude 86’ 25 E and its altitude is at sea level. It is also known as Sri Jagannath Dhama after the 12th-century Jagannath Temple located in the city. It is one of the original Char Dham pilgrimage sites for Hindus.
Puri is known by several names since the ancient times, and was locally known as “Sri Kshetra” and the Jagannath temple is known as “Badadeula”. Puri is the only place where the heirs of the House of Gajapati still perform the ritual duties of the temple. The temple town has many Hindu religious mathas or monasteries.
There is celebration of 24 festivals, including 13 major ones, held every year in the temple complex out of which the Ratha Yatra and its related festivals are the most important, which are attended by millions of people every year. Sand art, applique art, stone carving, pattachitra, wood carving, modern patch work, terracotta, bell metal, and sea shell items are some of the important crafts of the city.
Being in close proximity to the Bay of Bengal, this city has a tropical climate. The summers are from March to June, monsoons from June to September and winters are from October to February. The minimum temperature of Puri is approximately 17 degrees Celsius and the maximum 34 degrees Celsius. Puri has been chosen as one of the heritage cities for Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) scheme of Government of India.