Swargadwar is the creamation ground of Hindus. 'Swarga' means heaven and 'dwar'
means gateway, so literary Swargadwar is consider as the 'Gateway to Heaven'. General
belief support the idea among Hindus to end their life in this holy place of Puri
to get the accessibility to heaven for liberating their Soul and ultimately Salvation.
Swargadwar,is in the sandy beach towards the South western corner of the town. In
every Amabasya God Narayana represents 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 act as the guard
of Swargadwar and stand as the proof for all Heaven going Soul.
Purusottam Kshetra Puri has been accepted as the ‘Martya Vaikuntha’,
where Lord Vishnu stays as Jagannath in the Bada deula, the great Temple. Here everything
has been said to be great ‘Bada’ i.e. Bada danda, Mahaprasad, Mahadipa, Mohodadhi,
etc. Any body, therefore, dies here straight goes to heaven and attains salvation.
‘MUKTI’ undoubtedly achieved through this Swargadwar, besides the Mohodadhi (sea).
The devotees attach very strong faith in it and get themselves satisfied in visiting
directly the to gateway of heven (Swargadwar). Bathing first at Swargadwar beach
is conventional. Swargadwar is a sacred place. Sri Chaitanyadev too bathed here
first, merged into Brahma (Divine Soul) here in Nilachal. According to scriptures,
the Brahmadaru, from which the three main deities of the Jagannath temple are carved
out, floated to the beach at Swargadwar.
The ghat itself is a little square of darkness and
silence in the centre of this worldly bustle; here the only lights are not those
of bulbs and lanterns but of the slow-burning funeral pyres. It is natural considering
the place as a divine for any time in the year, be it the season of heavy rain or
shivering cold, be it the mid of dark night or the noon, one can view the magnanimity
of the place for which it is famous.
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