WORLD FAMOUS SANKHA KSHETRA (DAAM)

      The holy land of Odisha is divided into four kshetras. These kshetras are named after the four names of weapons of Lord Vishnu such as sankha (conch shell), chakra (disc), gada (mace) and padma (lotus). Puri Dham is known as Sankha Kshetra. Bhubaneswar is Chakra Kshetra, Jajpura is Gada Kshetra, and Konark is Padma Kshetra.

 

Puri is known by various names of which Sankha Kshetra is one. Sankha means conch shell. The geographical size of Puri resembles a right oriented conch shell, the ‘Dakshinavarta Sankha’, which is why it is also called the Sankha Kshetra. The sacred section of puri looks like a conch shell and it is in this section that all the sacred centres like temples, mathas, sacred tanks, trees and various other sacred sites are located. Sankha or conch shell is one of the Aiyudhas of Lord Vishnu, who resides in the naval or the central part of the Conch shell in the form of Lord Jagannath. The Sankha Kshetra covers an area of 10 miles, out of which nearly 40% is submerged under water and the other part which lies above water is of the shape of a conch shell or Sankha.