Puri Dhaam or Jagannatha Dhaam is one of the Chaar Dhaam- four holiest places of visit for Hindus.
Shree Jagannatha is the Lord of the Universe.
Puri is called the Bhoga Kshetra as this is the place where God eats.
That explains the vast variety of dishes and foods offered to Shree Jagannatha at the Puri Temple.
The Shree Jagannatha Temple at Puri has one of the largest kitchens in the world and serves thousands of devotees.
This 12th Century Temple is also called Shreemandira. 'Shree' means Goddess Lakshmi. It is believed that Devi Lakshmi cooks the food.
People think that "Chhappan Bhog" (56 dishes/offerings) are available and served; however, the number of dishes is much more in number than 56.
You can learn more in this post- 115 Varieties of Bhog of Shree Jagannatha Temple, Puri
Earlier, I always thought that Rasagola (Rasgulla) is Shree Jagannatha's favourite sweet.
Like Rasagola, many sweets and dishes of Odisha like Chhenapoda are made using cottage-cheese i.e. Chhena.
In 2016, while researching to write a blog about 'Chhenapoda - Uncommon Food', I came across some reports that stated that Chhenapoda is Lord Jagannatha's favourite sweet.
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| (From L to R)- Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra & Lord Jagannath |
