Odisha is a land of rich culture and religion. The famous three places of Odisha are Bhubaneswar, Puri and Konark often known as the Golden Triangle of Odisha.
Bhubaneswar is a very well planned city with the concentric ring roads and clean streets. Earlier Cuttack was the Capital city, but soon after the independence of India Bhubaneswar was made the capital. Bubhaneswar also has many old temples and ruins of the old Kalinga kingdom.
We visited the famous Udaygiri and Khandgiri caves, famous archeological site. The caves are supposed to be residents of Jain monks. We then headed to Lingaraj Temple, a famous temple dedicated to Shiva. We could not visit the Mukteswar Temple, another Shiva Temple. Almost all these temples are centuries old with it's own unique history. The stunning architecture leaves the visitors in awe. Bhubaneswar is truly India's "City of Temples".
Then we went to Dhaulagiri Shanti Stupa or the Peace Pagoda. If you are aware of the Japanese Peace Pagodas built throughout the world, this is one of them. It is an absolute surreal feeling to be on the pagoda. It is also believed that it is here that the Emperor Ashoka renounced war after witnessing the river of blood after the Kalinga War from this hill top. He then supposed adopted Buddhism. In the evenings, a light and sound show is hosted and it is a must see, that I recommend.
In Puri, we visited the famous Jagannathan Temple and took blessings from one of the most revered holy places in India for Hindus. In the evening we headed to the beach to relax on the beach and enjoy the street food.
The next day we headed to Chandrabhaga beach, another popular beach in this belt en route Konark. When we reached Konark we went straight to the Sun Temple. Once you enter the gates, there is an information and video room where the tell you about the temple in detail. This was quite informative and watching the video helped us understand the temple better when we went for the visit. I guess this is also a way of the Government to reduce touts and guides from looting tourists in the name of showing around. Once you have absorbed the informative video it was much easier to understand about the temple details.
The architecture of the temple was stunning and I was in awe of how those people, many centuries ago were able to built the temple with such mathematical and scientific precision. Most of the temple was in restoration phase but that did not lessen it's beauty. You must see this wonderful marvel of the old world India once.
When in Odisha do try the famous aloo dum and dahi bara, Chena poda, Dalma, pakhala bhaat and the famous khaja. It also has great sea food like prawns and crabs, perks of being a coastal city.
