Swargadwara ( or, ସ୍ୱର୍ଗ ଦ୍ୱାର; ) is a cremation ground and one of India's most auspicious mortuary sites. It is located at on the shore of

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line bet ...

(called ''Mahodadhi''), about a mile to the south of

Jagannath Temple The Jagannath Temple is an important Hindu temple dedicated to Jagannath, a form of Vishnu - one of the trinity of supreme divinity in Hinduism. Puri is in the state of Odisha, on the eastern coast of India. The present temple was rebuilt ...

and southeastern area of the city

Puri 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, south of the state capital of Bhubaneswar. It is also known as ''S ...

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sc ...

. Where anyone can watch the cremations from a respectful distance. Generally the Hindus believe that, by cremated in Swargadwara, they will go to heaven for liberating their soul and will attain ultimate salvation.

History

Kapila Samhita mentioned that the Swargadwara one of a seven sacred places from the list, where

Brahma Brahma ( sa, ब्रह्मा, Brahmā) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the trinity of supreme divinity that includes Vishnu, and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp ...

was embodied from Heaven on earth with Indradyumna for consecrating the holy Trinity. According to scriptures, the Daru Brahma (Soul stuff), from which the three main deities of the Jagannath temple are carved out, floated to the beach at Swargadwara.In every

Amavasya Amāvásyā () is the lunar phase of the new moon in Sanskrit. Indian calendars use 30 lunar phases, called tithi in India. The dark moon tithi is when the Moon is within 12 degrees of the angular distance between the Sun and Moon before conj ...

Lord Jagannath in visiting sea which is said to be the in-law house of the Lord, through this holy cremation ground. On this holy site situated the temple of Goddess Smasana Kali. Goddess

Kali Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In this trad ...

act as the guard of Swargadwar and stand as the proof for all Heaven going Soul.

References

Cremation Hindu holy cities Holy cities Jagannath Temple Complex Puri Crematoria in India {{Puri-geo-stub