Bhubneshwar

A tour of Bhubaneswar would mainly be religious in nature. The capital city of Orissa is popularly known as the Temple city of India whose name literally means the abode of the Lord of the World. The Lingaraj temple dedicated to Tribhubaneswar has a magnificent architecture and beautiful sculptures. It is situated near the sacred Bindu Sagar Lake. The old city skyline boasts of beautiful temple spires rising high against the backdrop of the blue sky. The new city with its modern buildings and infrastructure perfectly blends in with the religious ambience. Some of the famous temples here are the Vaital Deul Temple, Mukhteshwara Temple, Siddeshwara Temple, Brahmeshwara Temple, Parasurameswar Mandir and Rajrani Mandir. Other places to visit are the Orissa State Museum that has a fine collection of native artefacts, illuminated manuscripts and various archaeological finds like Jain and Buddhist sculptures and the Tribal Research Museum given to tribal art and culture.
Bhubaneswar has a domestic airport and is one of the two railheads connected to all metros in the country. The city is also connected by road to Calcutta and Visakhapatnam in the neighbouring states.
Best Time to visit: October to March
Languages Spoken: Oriya
Climate: Hot and humid summers followed by monsoon and pleasant winters
Holy places: Lingaraj temple, Vaital Deul Temple, Mukhteshwara Temple, Siddeshwara Temple, Brahmeshwara Temple, Parasurameswar Mandir and Rajrani Mandir
Knowledge centres: Orissa State Museum, Tribal Research Museum

आइए चलें भुवनेश्वर से भितरकनिका के सफ़र पर…

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हमारा अगला पड़ाव राजनगर (Rajnagar) था जो कि भितरकनिका जाने का प्रवेशद्वार है। केन्द्रपाड़ा और राजनगर के बीच की दूरी करीब 70 किमी है। इन दोनों के बीच पतामुन्दई (Patamundai) का छोटा सा कस्बा आता है। ये पूरी सड़क एक लेन वाली है और फिर त्योहार की गहमागहमी अलग से थी इसलिए चाहकर भी अपने गंतव्य तक जल्दी नहीं पहुँचा जा सकता था। हर पाँच छः गाँवों को पार करते ही एक मेला नज़र आ जाता था। गाँव के मेलों की रौनक कुछ और ही होती है… थोड़ी सी जगह में तरह तरह की वस्तुएँ बेचते फुटकर विक्रेता और रंग बिरंगी पोशाकों में उमड़ा जन समुदाय जो शायद एक साल से इन मेलों की प्रतीक्षा में हो।

राँची और कटक की दुर्गापूजा से अलग जगह जगह दुर्गा के आलावा शिव पार्वती, लक्ष्मी और हनुमान जी की भी मूर्तियाँ मंडप में सजी दिखाई पड़ीं। बाद में पता चला कि इस इलाके का ये सबसे बड़ा त्योहार है और इसे यहाँ गजलक्ष्मी पूजा (Gajlakshmi Puja) कहा जाता है।

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क्या आपके शहर के कार्यालयों की चारदीवारी इतनी सुंदर है ?

क्या आपके शहर के कार्यालयों की चारदीवारी इतनी सुंदर है ?

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भारतीय शहरों में आम तौर पर सरकारी चारदीवारियों को उनके अपने वास्तविक रंगों में कायम रख पाना एक टेढ़ी खीर है। राजनैतिक दलों के…

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The Living Stone

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It is a very small temple which has sixty four Yogini figures placed inside the circular wall. Each Yogini has a name and special characteristic such as one with lion face, one with a monkey face, one standing on a human head or one standing in fire and so on. There are a few Yogini temples all over India and all are circular in shape depicting the ‘Yoni’.

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Bhubaneswar – Temple city of Odisha

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We first reached at Udayagiri and Khandagiri caves. It is a typical tourist destination with numbers of tea and snacks shop and a big parking area for Buses and car parking. The monument remains open from sunrise to sunset. Entry fee for Citizens of India and visitors of SAARC (Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Maldives and Afghanistan) and BIMSTEC Countries (Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Myanmar) – Rs. 5 per head and for each foreigner is Rs. 100.00 or US $2.00 and free entry for children below 15 years.

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Puri – Lord Jagannath’s land

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In the evening we came out of the Hotel to explore Puri Market and Swargdwar. As regards to Puri Beach I have always seen in television that sand art is generally performed at Puri Beach so I was looking at the beach if I can found any sand art. Unfortunately we did not get to see any sand art on Puri beach. We were walking on the beach and there I saw a board “National Sand Art Festival”. We were so excited and quickly took tickets (Rs 20/- for each person and Rs 15/- for camera).We entered inside and got to see some beautiful art works.

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Travel to Konark Sun Temple and Puri

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We decided to relax for couple of hours before we pay our visit to Puri temple. Finally we went for Darshan at 7 pm and it took us hardly 10 minutes get inside the Garbha Grih. Now here is the word of caution, the religious place is a house notorious panda’s and one has to be careful dealing with them. One of them took us to small room within the temple premise and forced us to pay him huge in order to get the blessings. Since we were well aware, we avoided that well within time and moved ahead. Such panda’s were there every meter, and they kept asking for donation in the name of god. Note: I am not calling them as priest as they don’t behave like.

The temple complex is beautiful from inside, having many small temples, very similar to any other temple in India. The structure is inspired by Kalinga art, and it is the highest temple in Orissa from the sea level. Details of origin and legend can be obtained from shrine’s official website.

In the evening we had an early dinner and went to sleep as the day ahead was packed with action.

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My trip to Odisha – Dhauli, Pipli and Konark

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We passed through an old toll booth. Papa held a competition that who will spot the Konark Temple first? We all eagerly started to look outside. Papa was looking straight with confidence that only he will win. I thought that probably he knew where the Sun Temple would come. I was proved right as after sometime papa was the first person to spot the Sun Temple’s mastaka. It was brightly shining, rising above the tree canopy.

By then it was evening so we decided to go to the Konark beach first and get a glance of the temple in the night. It was a nice warm day and towards the evening it turned a little cool. I wore my swimming costume and had fun on the beach. Nikki Mama and I played with a disk. When Mama went to play with his friends who had also come from Delhi, I strolled on the beach going near to the ocean so that I could get my feet wet. The water was chillingly cold. I wanted to go further deep but papa had cautioned me not to do so as Konark Beaches are unsafe and dangerous. It was a beautiful evening with finally the sun diving and disappearing in the ocean.

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