Orissa Calling

A trip to Orissa state has been in the waiting for a long time now. And finally it happened over the last week. The week long tour of the state with the family is a memorable experience. We started from Bangalore on a Friday morning by flight to Bhubaneshwar the state capital.



On our landing at the new place, hot weather welcomed us. But when we stepped out of restaurant after lunch we were greeted by rain. So the entire trip we had a climate which was hot at times and rainy or cloudy otherwise. On day one, we visited Udaygiri and Khandgiri Jain heritage and then moved to Puri.



At Puri on day two, we visited famous Jaganath Temple among other places. The visit to the beach was enjoyed by the kids most. The we proceeded to biggest lake in India, Chilka Lake. We spent more than 3 hours in the lake which is known for migratory birds.



On day three we visited World famous Konark Temple. The Ancient World Heritage Site is beauty. Every corner of the temple speaks volumes. From Konark we moved to little known places such as Buddhist Site Kurma and ancient temple at Chaurasi.



On day four, we left Puri to Bhubaneshwar via Buddhist site Dahuli. At Bhuwaneshwar we visited world famous Lingaraj Temple and many other ancient temples. The old area of the city has many of these temples.



On day five, we left this city to Kendrapara our next destination which is close to Bhuddist triangle Udaygiri, Ratangiri and Lalitgiri. It was pretty late in the day, but we still managed to see all the places here.



On day six, we visited wildlife sanctuary Bhitarkanika. The place is famous for salt water crocodiles and migratory birds. We were lucky to spot at least few of them even in the off season. From this place we traveled back to Cuttack.



On day seven, we did the local site seeing at Cuttack covering temples, museum, fort. Then on our way back to Bhubaneshwar we visited the Nadankanan zoo.



On day eight, we were on train back to Bangalore. Thus the short trip of Orissa with family was memorable for all as it had something for everyone like heritage monuments, museum, temples, wildlife, lake, beaches, birds.



We shall soon explore these places in more detail.