Nilakantheswar

Nilakantheswar is the blue-throated form of Shiva, remembered for drinking the poison of the ocean churning. In Puri he is one of the five Shiva temples associated with the Jagannath temple, and his shrine stands in the far east of the town on the bank of the Indradyumna tank behind the Gundicha temple. The Chandan Yatra and Sitala Sasthi are both observed here. Shiva is also worshipped under this name at other Odisha shrines, so devotees should note that more than one temple carries the name.

According to the Puranas, when the gods and demons churned the ocean, the deadly halahala poison arose and threatened the worlds. Shiva drank it to protect creation, and it turned his throat blue, which gives the name Nilakantha, the blue-throated one. This is the scriptural basis of the name and...