Emar Matha

Emar Matha or Embar Mutt was a matha located in the south-eastern (agneya kona) corner of Jagannath Temple, Puri outside the main Prakara near Kalikadevi Sahi.

It used to be one of the biggest and oldest mutts in Puri, demolished in 2019 by the Odisha government for beautification purposes and facilitating pilgrims circulation. The monastery had great impacts on the history of the city and overall the region, notably through its large and generous social activities during the Orissa famine of 1866.

Biswanath Das (1911-1995) was one of the key figure associated with the Mutt and served the Mutt during Ramanuja II. A statesman and intellectual, he was an avid reader and had excellent command of Sanskrit, Odia, Sanskrit and Bengali and is known to have read more than 1000 books that once were in the Mutt’s Raghunandan library, the oldest library of Puri before it was demolished for beautification project around the temple. People far from the Odisha state would visit him for consultation on legal matters. During his time with Mutt as an advisor which he served for more than 60 years, three Mahants were made in those six decades. He used to reside in Daitapara Sahi, Puri.