It is said that Swamy Ramanujar visited the temple during his Orissa visit. Swamy was delighted to have darshanam of chaturbhuja ( four armed) Lord Sri Maha Vishnu, with conch, discus, mace and lotus flower. It is also believed by the locals that he glorified the deity as ‘Sri Alwarnath’ or the ‘lord of the alwars’ giving the message of Sri Vaishnava Sampradaya. The place which housed Lord Alwarnath hence also came to be known as Alwarpur. And today the words have been shortened with passing time, the temple known as Sri ‘Alarnath’ or ‘Alalanath’ and the place called ‘Alarpur’ .Sri Ramanujar established the Embar Mutt at Puri.
On reaching Puri, Swamy Ramanujar began to interact with the local priests and scholars. His divya tejas attracted people and soon he found many devotees submitting to the legendary sampradaya . Swamy decided to establish a monastery to be headed by Sri Govinda . Govinda was also fondly called Embar , hence the mutt came to be known as ‘Embar mutt’.. This Embar mutt is located right outside the Puri Jagannath temple.
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu used to stay at Alarnath during anavasara period of Lord Jagannath.
Anavasara is the two weeks period when Lord Jagannatha take rest in isolation from the rest of the world , post the annual bathing festival (Snana Yatra).( another divine leela ) .
After Snana Poornima, ritualistic bathing of the idols of Jagannath, there is a popular belief that the deities get fever. For a period of 15 day the deities do not appear before public. The deities remain in the Anasar house and appear a day before Puri Rath Yatra ……

day and post Snana Purnima in Jyeshta month (May – June), there is no darshan of Lord Jagannath and other deities at the Puri JagannathTemple for 15 days.
This 15-day period of Anavasara (no darshan) at Puri JagannathTemple happens before the Rath Yatra.

There is a popular belief that Lord Jagannath during this period manifests as Alarnath Dev at AlarnathTemple in Brahmagiri, which is about 23 km from Puri. During these 15 days, devotees visit the Alarnath temple at Brahmagiri in large numbers.
Legend has it that Lord Jagannath manifests into the Alarnath Dev during the fortnight.
Sri Chaitanya maha prabhu visualised the appearance of Lord Jagannath in Alarnath and spent a long period in worshipping the lordships here.
It is believed that those who cannot worship Lord Jagannath during his stay in the sick chamber can get the blessings of Lord Alarnathjee if they visit this temple. During this period the temple servitors offered holy rice porridge, known as ‘Kheer’ ( Akkaraadisil ) in local language, to the lord. During the present anavasara period of every year thousands of devotees visit this temple to get the blessings of Lord Alarnath and to taste the mahaprasad ( famous holy ‘Kheer’).
Here one can have darshan of LORD with chaturbhuja .Lord holds chakra in his upper right hand, Lotus in his lower right hand, Conch in his upper left hand and club in his lower left hand. Garudazhwan , kneels at the feet of the deity with his hands folded in prayer position.
Lord Krishna’s queens Rukmini and Satyabhama also give darshan inside the temple. The Deity of Sri Chaitanya mahaprabhu also gives darshan to the devotees .
There is a stone slab before the LORD which bears impressions from Sri Chaitanya’s body.
When Sri Chaitanya mahaprabhu first lay in full respect in front of Lord Alarnath, the stone below Sri Chaitanya maha prabhu melted from His blissful touch.
Photos : Courtesy : Google
Srimathey Ramanujaya namah
JAI JAI JAI JAGGANATHA
Please check the travel details of Jagganath Puri dhaam in this link
https://kazhiyurvaradanblog.in/2015/01/01/jaya-jaya-jagannatha-sacira-nandan/
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