As per the Puranic texts, it is held that the cult of Jagannatha has its origin in the primitive system of worship of a non-Aryan deity, Nila Madhava, followed by the tribals of this area. A shrine of Nila Madhav had been established by them in very ancient times, with the image of the deity being made of some sort of blue stone. The Aryans, who came here, are believed to have taken over the shrine and to have started the worshipping of the deity as per Vedic rites and rituals. Later, the god manifested himself in the form of wooden images that are worshipped at present and came to be known as Jagannatha.

The different temple chronicles mention various years of construction of this temple which include 1196, 1197, 1205, 1216, or 1226 A.D. However, it is generally held that the temple was built in the 12th century A.D. by King Anantavarman Chodaganga of the Ganga dynasty. This is based on the information contained in a copper-plate inscription of King ... More

As per the Puranic texts, it is held that the cult of Jagannatha has its origin in the primitive system of worship of a non-Aryan deity, Nila Madhava, followed by the tribals of this area. A shrine of Nila Madhav had been established by them in very ancient times, with the image of the deity being made of some sort of blue stone. The Aryans, who came here, are believed to have taken over the shrine and to have started the worshipping of the deity as per Vedic rites and rituals. Later, the god manifested himself in the form of wooden images that are worshipped at present and came to be known as Jagannatha.

The different temple chronicles mention various years of construction of this temple which include 1196, 1197, 1205, 1216, or 1226 A.D. However, it is generally held that the temple was built in the 12th century A.D. by King Anantavarman Chodaganga of the Ganga dynasty. This is based on the information contained in a copper-plate inscription of King Narasimhadeva II. Anantavarman was originally a Shaivite, but he became a Vaishnavite after he conquered the Utkala region in 1112 A.D, which roughly coincides with the present state of Odisha. Thus the temple construction must have started sometime after that year. It underwent renovations during the reign of Anantavarman's son, Anangabhima, and the temple complex was further enlarged during the reigns of the subsequent kings of the Ganga and the Gajapati dynasties.

The temple was plastered with a thick coat of lime sometime in the l6th century A.D. This was done to protect its surface from the decay caused by the atmospheric salinity. Quoting some temple records, Rajendralal Mitra says that the application of lime plaster was done for the first time during the reign of Prataparudra Deva on both the Vimana and Jagamohana. Madala Panji records such plastering to have been done in 1647 A.D. After this successive layers of plasters was applied in 18th century. This made the temple looked like 'an ugly mass of stone and plaster' as observed by a British officer, Sterling. Later the conservation of the temple was handed over to the Archaeological Survey of India. In 1975, the work of the removal of the plaster was taken up. While the deplastering of the main shrine and the temple tower has been completed, that of the Jagamohana is yet to be taken up.