Hello all!! wishing you all a very happy, healthy & prosperous new year 2018 :)
This is my first blog of 2018 and hope you all like it. Please do comment & share like you always do :)
Also wishing all my people a Happy Republic day.. I witnessed our daredevil woman soldiers from BSF putting up a spectacular show at the republic day parade. I must say this is an amazing sight to behold & a small glimpse into the progress of our country :)
Today I am writing about a historic place in our country that has been revered as the temple town & had such strategic importance associated with it so much so that it has seen some of the bloodiest battles in Indian history causing one of the greatest rulers in India to give up wars & embrace Buddhism.
I am talking about the historic places of Odisha. Bhubaneshwar & Puri to be specific.
Honestly, when I visited Bhubaneshwar I got a reality check of sorts. I was reminded about how rich of a culture we are part off.
The talented artists & craftsmen who have built & engraved their work in the famous structures like the 108 temples in the Lingaraj temple or the Konark Sun temple, or be it the motivational leaders who led scores of brave soldiers into fierce battles fully knowing about the might of the opponents & the consequences of the war should make us all proud of our legacy.
It should make us all feel motivated enough to take on the everyday challenges with a smile & without being bogged down 🙂
The Plan
As the holiday season was approaching in the U.S & my accrued leave balance was overflowing we decided to visit apna desh,apna ghar Bharat 🙂 It had been almost 1.5 years that I had been to India & I couldn't resist the urge to visit my homeland anymore. It was time to head back home.
I did not want to make this trip just about visiting friends & family. My dad had been telling me how he always wanted to visit Odisha which, however, he wasn't able to due to circumstances. As Christmas was around the corner, I wanted to spread some Christmas cheer by taking my dad to Odisha to fulfil his long unfulfilled plans 🙂
I need to admit, I had no clue about the cultural heritage of Odisha. The only agenda I had in visiting was the fact that Odisha has a vast coastline. Where there is a vast coastline there are great beaches & where there are great beaches there is awesome lip-smacking seafood 😉
yeah, Sea food, that was my sole agenda in visiting Puri & bhubaneshwar. However, it was not the seafood but the sheer beauty & cultural heritage of this place that gave me goosebumps & blew me away 🙂
I had no clue about the place & as I was too lazy to research about the sightseeing places,
my plan was to just check into the hotel & then contact the hotel's travel desk to figure out what places to visit. So we were all set for a Bangalore to Odisha trip
The trip begins
So after meeting cousins in Kolkata & getting sloshed on some local liquor, it was time to board the train to Bhubaneshwar.It was after so long that I was boarding a long distance train. It brought me back my childhood memories of traveling in a train from bangalore to Kolkata for 2 whole days.Nostalgia it was :)
Puri
It was 5 in the morning & I was snoring away to glory in the upper berth of the train when I heard the constant voices screaming "Chai, Chai" 🙂 I jumped out of my deep slumber & quickly descended down to indulge in some hot chai...waking up at 5 am for some hot chai served in a clay pot(Mati'r bhar) is a truly out of the world feeling....
Sitting by the window with the cool breeze blowing through my hair and indulging in the second round of chai whilst reading the local news from the newspaper that I had just bought from a hawker, the train finally pulled into Puri railway station.
I was finally here I thought to myself.
Day 1 was dedicated to visiting the holy shrine, Puri Jagannath temple & spending time exploring the beaches, eateries & the places around the hotel
Puri Jagannath Temple
Shree Jagannath temple situated in Puri, Odisha is dedicated to lord Jagannath a form of lord Vishnu.
Shree Jagannath temple is an important piligrimage site for Hindus and is part of the Char Dham.
Char Dham comprises of four sacred Hindu pilgrimage places namely Badrinath, Dwarka, Puri & Rameshwaram. These sacred sites have historic significance associated with them & it is said that every Hindu needs to visit the Char Dham atleast once in their life time to achieve moksha.
Picture Courtesy: Wikipedia
After checking into the hotel, we headed to the Jagannath temple. As I heard from many people that the temple is usually crowded & it takes 2 to 3 hours for the visit. However, since it was a weekday there was not much crowd & the visit was a breeze.
After visiting the holy temple and seeking divine blessings from lord Jagannath we had the mahaprasad the famous Khaja/Gaja & were energized to kickstart the rest of our journey. The first day was just dedicated to lazing at the hotel and explore the surroundings.... we strolled through the beach had some good lunch & headed back to the hotel. I spoke to the travel desk & this was the itinerary for day 2 & day 3
Day 2 - Boat trip in Chilika lake & visiting different islands adjoining Chilika lake & viewing dolphins in Chilika lake.
Day 3 - Konark temple, Buddha temple where Ashoka embraced Buddhism, Lingaraj Temple & Udaygiri caves
Day 1 was almost coming to an end. The hotel which we were put in had a nice lazy pool.
So after a hot & tiring day I took a dip in the pool whilst sipping some chilled beer & that completed Day 1.We had an exciting day 2 to look forward to...
Day 2
Since we were tired the previous day, we started day 2 with late breakfast, luchi & aloo dum :)
With our tummy full & happy we were geared up to visit our first destination for the day, Chilika Lake
Chilika Lake Chilika lake is India's largest coastal lagoon. The lake hosts a huge population of fisherman. There are fishing nets laid throughout the length & breadth of the lake.The Lake hosts variety of migratory birds & various endangered species. Part of the boat tour that we singed up for included the viewing of the rare species of dolphincalled the Irrawaddy Dolphin, which is classified as one of the threatened species. Chilika lake also has some of the delicious crabs.
We were dropped off at the Chilika Lake visitor center. The visitor center was well maintained & the restrooms were very clean. We hired a private boat for 3500 bucks for a 3.5 hour boat tour of the lake. Enroute the boat tour we came across the beautiful birds & the Dolphins.We were also made to disembark the boat at an island where the river meets the sea. It was a beautiful sight.
So after 3.5 hours of memorable boat tour of the largest coastal Lagoon of India it was time to head back & indulge on some seafood.
On the wayback we dined at a local hotel which served us fresh crabs from the Lake & it was yummy :)
At dusk we visited the beach & indulged on some local savouries & that concluded day 2. An amazing day indeed 🙂 We had a tiring day3 awaiting us...
Day 3
Day 3 honestly was an eye opener for me. As I mentioned earlier it was literally a goosebumps day for me. The Temples that we visited, the architecture that we witnessed, the tales that we heard from the local guides all made me realize the amazing rich cultural heritage that we are part of.....
Konark Sun Temple
After a drive through the beautiful Marine drive we reached the first destination of the day, Konark Sun Temple.
The Konark Temple is dedicated to the sun god & resembles a huge Chariot. Built in 13th century by king Narashimadeva of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty.The Konark Sun Temple is known for the intricate carvings & is a world heritage site.The stone carvings, paint a picture of history & depict the lives of our ancestors. I was awestruck at the magnificence of the temple whilst the guide narrated the history & meaning behind every structure of the temple.If you are visiting the Konark temple please do hire a local Guide.This will, for sure, create a craving in you to dig deeper & get to know more about our cultural past.
So after walking through history & being mesmerized by the magnificent structures it was time to depart this sheer beauty.Our next destination was awaiting us to give another dose of history 🙂
Dhauli Hills
On an eventful day in history, 261-262 BC, on the banks of the Daya river, around Dhauli hills,
one of the bloodiest battle in the ancient history of India, The Kalinga war was fought between two powerful empires, the Mauryan empire & the Kalinga empire.
Such was the magnitude of the war that it saw casualties numbering few hundreds of thousands &
caused the Daya River flowing nearby turn into red from the blood of the people involved in the war.
The magnitude of the war was in such devastating scales that it brought in a realization of grief in King Ashoka, the ruler of Mauryan empire and made him eventually give up battles & embrace Buddhism. A Buddhist stupa was erected atop of the Dhauli hills marking a symbol of peace at the place that witnessed largescale bloodshed. You will feel a sense of chill when you visit the Dhauli hills.
A glimpse of the Daya river from Dhauli hills gives you goosebumps thinking about the devastation this place has seen & reminds you of the courage and Valour of the people involved in the war.
So after a brief stroll of the Dhauli hills & the Buddha stupa we visited the edicts of Ashoka located at the entrance of the hills.
This concluded our visit to Dhauli & it was time to say goodbye to this historic place & move onto our next destination.....
Lingaraj Temple
The Lingaraj temple is dedicated to lord Shiva & is one of the oldest temple of Bhubaneshwar.
We reached the temple around noon & as we entered the temple my jaw dropped just at looking at the magnificient structures of the Lingaraj Temple. It is just unimaginable how our ancestors were able to build such enormous & architecturally intricate temples back in the time in the absence of technology.
Cell phones & cameras were not allowed inside the temple premises. Hence I have no pictures of this amazing temple complex 🙁
Picture courtesy - Wikipedia
I just gazed & gazed at these beautiful structures inside the temple complex & was constantly reminded about our cultural heritage. The Lingaraj temple should be a must visit place if you are visiting Odisha.
It was finally time to depart to our final destination in Odisha after we needed to board the flight back home.It was really hard to leave the temple complex as all i wanted was to sit there & gaze away at the beautiful structures in peace. I was so moved by the place that I bought books about the temple history from local hawkers outside the temple complex to know more about the temple & the people
who built them.
Udayagiri & Khandagiri caves
The Udayagiri & Khandagiri caves consists of many natural as well as artificially built caves that were built in 2nd century BC.These caves are of architectural & historical significance. These caves are built in 2 adjacent hills namely the Udayagiri & khandagiri Hills.2nd century caves, phew!! just imagine the sheer amount of history we have back home.
From Wikipedia -
"The Udayagiri hills fall on your right side when you enter into this area from Bhubaneswar. Compared to Khandagiri, Udayagiri offers more beautiful and better maintained cave shrines. There are 18 caves in Udayagiri :[8]
1. Rani Gumpha "Cave of the Queen"
Rani Gumpha is the largest and most popular cave among the caves of Udayagiri and Khandagiri. The word 'Rani' means Queen.
Although it is not an architectural marvel, it has some ancient beautiful sculptures.
This cave is double storeyed. Each storey has three wings and the central wing is bigger among all the three wings.
The lower floor has seven entrances in the middle wing whereas the upper floor has nine columns.
The upper portion of the central wing has relief images depicting the victory march of a king.
Many of the cells have carved dwara pala images; some of them are disfigured.
The area that connects the central wing with right and left wings have some panels where the sculptures of wild animals, fruit laden trees, human figures, women playing musical instruments, monkeys and playful elephants are found.
The pilasters contain the toranas (arches) decorated with sculptures of Jain religious importance and royal scenes. "
I was behind a group of people who had hired a guide to showaround the place. I was tagging along and overhearing the remarkable history of the place 😉
after spending an hour or so we headed to the airport & boarded the flight back home to Bangalore...
I can go on and on writing about this beautiful place & it would still be less & would not make justice to this culturally rich place. Odisha should be in your itinerary as one of the must visit place in your lifetime. This place will blow your mind away by its brilliance...
With that I am bidding adieu for now.... so until next time, Chao :)
