Visit to Puri, Bhubaneswar and Chilika (Part - 3)

[Continued from Visit to Puri, Bhubaneswar and Chilika (Part - 2)] Our coach guide sent a guide for us. We started walking with our new guide who would show the intricate designs and curvings on the walls of the temple, tell us the history of the temple and explain the reason about why this temple is considered unholy. This temple was constructed by King Narasimhadeva I in the 13th century. The name Konark was derived from the two Sanskrit words - Kona meaning angle and Ark meaning Surya because of dedication of the temple to the Sun god Surya. Our guide showed us the wheels, intricate curvings and sculptures of the chariot sun temple. He also showed us how to read the time with the help of a wheel and the sun. It took 12 years, 1200 workers and 12000 gold coins to build this masterpiece of architecture. One interesting fact that I would like to mention is that one will never find any shadow of this temple on any sides around it. Now most parts of the temple has fallen down. The entire temple was designed in the form of Sun Gods, chariot drawn by seven horses on twelve pairs of exquisitely designed wheels at the base. The temple complex consists of four parts - Bhoga Mandap, Nata Mandir, Audience Hall and the Main Sanctum. Out of these only the Audience hall survives in its entirety. The main sanctum where the idol of the sun god was placed has fallen off. And some portions of the Bhoga Mandap and Nata Mandir survives. After seeing the temple complex we went back to our bus.

Konark Temple

The next destination was Chandrabhaga beach but there our bus would not stop. Our next and last stop was at the Ramachandi temple. As our bus neared the beach, our guide told us that we could see the beach on our left side. It is said that 'Shamba' (Krishna's son) who had become a victim of leprosy, worshiped the sun god for cure at the mouth of the river Chandrabhaga. Now the river has dried up. But even now also people from all over the state come here to take a holy dip in the shallow pool an offer their prayers to the sun god. After some time our bus stopped at the Ramachandi temple. It took about 10 minutes to see the temple and come back. Then we boarded the bus. Our bus started. We reached Puri at around 06:45 pm. From there we took an auto rickshaw and headed towards Ruchira restaurant. As we were quite tired so I had decided to have our dinner and then go to the hotel. But on reaching the restaurant we were told that we could get only Chinese cuisine food at that time. So I ordered Fried Rice and Chicken Manchurian and we waited. After waiting for half an hour the food was served. After having dinner we went to our hotel.

Wheel of the Konark Sun Temple

We woke up quite late the next day. So that day we took rest and kept ourselves at our room enjoying the cool sea breeze. In the afternoon we came out of our hotel. But this time we did not went to Ruchira restaurant. Instead we started searching for other restaurants. That day we ate at the New Suruchi restaurant. But the food there was not as good as Ruchira. As it was the festival of Snan Yatra we decided to go to the Jagannath temple that evening. The main festival was actually during daytime but I had planned to go in the evening as in the morning there would be a very big crowd and rush of people and at that time getting Darshan of Lord Jagannath would be almost impossible. So in the evening we came out of the hotel and took a rickshaw. While on the way to the temple the rickshaw was diverted by police and we had to take another route to the temple. On reaching there we saw that the idol of Lord Jagannath along with Balaram and Subhadra were placed on a high stage. They were not visible from the road. So after standing there for some time we came back to the marine drive. Then after dinner we went back to our hotel.

Horse sculpture at Konark

The day after we went to the sea beach. That day the waves were quite high. I might say they were gigantic. Even at the sea shore some of the waves came up to our chest. But whatever be the size of the waves they were not able to dominate over the enthusiasm of the tourists including us. So we enjoyed the sea bath for about three hours. But as the sun came up we had to take the path back to the hotel. On the way we saw a Dabwala and there we drank coconut water. Till noon we had stayed at the hotel enjoying the cool breeze of the sea. The scenery was beautiful, very beautiful.

Continued to Visit to Puri, Bhubaneswar and Chilika (Part - 4)

How to Reach :

From Howrah station, 12837 Howrah-Puri Express departs from Howrah at 22:50 hrs and reaches Puri at 07:30 hrs. 18409 Howrah Puri Sri Jagannath Express leaves Howrah at 19:00 hrs and reaches Puri at 04:50 hrs. 12821 Dhauli Express leaves Howrah at 06:00 hrs and reaches Puri at 14:30 hrs.

Nearest Airport - Biju Patnaik Airport, Bhubaneswar

Where to Stay :

There are many hotels and holiday homes in Puri. Some of the hotels are listed below.
1. Puri Hotel
2. Pulin Puri Hotel
3. Hotel Sonali
4. Hotel Park
5. Hotel Swapnapuri
6. Toshali Sands
7. Hotel Swarg
8. Fort Mahodadhi

Places of Interest :

The main attraction of Puri is the Jagannath temple. It is also famous for its sea beach. Other attractions include the Gundicha mandir, Chakra Tirtha temple and Shri Lokenath temple. You can also visit the Lingaraj Temple, Konark Temple, Nandankanan Zoo, Chilika lake and Bhubaneswar.

For more information, please contact :

The Managing Director
OTDC Head Office
Panthanivas (Old Block)
Lewis Road, Bhubaneswar-751014
Odisha, India