Bhubaneshwar often depicted as the “Ekamra Kshetra”, and also known as “The Temple City” is the largest city and capital of Odisha. it is one of the modern cities which was designed by a German architect, named Otto Konigsberger. it is famous for it’s range of diverse heritage resource such as Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and several Kalingana Temples.
Bhubaneswar is a mixture of administrative, information technology, education and tourism and so it has emerged as one of the fastest growing, trading and commercial hub in the state and eastern india. Bhubaneswar has almost over 1000 temples, all are made in the Kalingana architectural styles.
The Odia culture survives in the form of classical Odissi dance, handicrafts, sand artistry and sculpturing as well as theatre and music.
The famous cuisines of Odisha are very popular among the tourists as it provides a variety of lip smacking dishes such as Maccha Jhola followed by Chenna Gaja, Chena Poda, Rasogulla, Chenna Jhilli as it’s famous desserts. And you must visit infocity road and ram mandir for experiencing it’s variety of street food such as Golgappa, Dahi Vada – Aloo Dum, and the traditional Odia food Dahi Pakhala etc.
FAMOUS FESTIVALS:
Ashokashtami festival is also one of the important festival there celebrated in the month of april. It is aslo called as rath jatra or chariot festival. In this festival the deity of lord lingaraj is places on the ratha/chariot and is carried from the main temple to rameswar temple.
Durga Puja is also an another important festival of odisha which is celebrated with great joy and enthusiasm.
Kalinga Mahotsav/Dhauli Mahostav: Odisha was known as Kalinga, which was invaded by great king of Magadh Ashoka. The bloodiest Kalinga war was fought on the bank of river Daya at the foothill of Dhaui. After the war Ashoka life transformed and he decided to live a peaceful life with the path of Buddha. Dhauli Mahotsav celebrated every winter on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar near Dhauli Peace Pagoda. Its to mark victory of Peace over Cruelty and also its to pay tribute to the martyrs of Mauryan dynasty. In this celebration various Martial art acts are performed along with light and sound show about History Kalinga Dynasty.
Mukteshwar Dance Festival: Mukteshwar Dance Festival is a dance festival conducted at the backdrop of 11th century Mukteswar Temple inside the temple Complex. There are many reputed dancers and dance groups throughout India join to perform their skills, they solo, duet and groups. This temple is famous for its distinctive stone carving and ceiling of eight lotus petals and also famous for its stone carving entrance gate.
Khandagiri Mela: Khandagiri Mela celebrated at the foothills of Khandagiri caves in winter of every year, in the month of February. This festival starts on the day of Magha Saptami. Large number of hindu saints, monks & followers of various Hindu sects attend from across the country. This is happen outskirts of Bhubaneswar, this is 10 days long religious and cultural fair of its kind. Sellers from around the state come to sell local cuisines, wooden crafts, utensils, bamboo crafts, stone carvings, tribal jewellery and many more. In addition many jatra/drama (theatre) troupes perform in every late evening.
TOURIST ATTRACTIONS:
Lingaraj Temple: It is one of the oldest temple and is dedicated to lord shiva. It is believed that the Shiva Lingam in the sanctum sanctorum is self originated which make it more famous.
Iskcon Temple: this temple is dedicated to shri krishna and balram.
Parsurameshwara Temple: It is considered as the best preserved specimen of an early Odia hindu temple.
Rajarani Temple: it is a 11th century temple also called as love temple is built with two different types of stones.
Bindu Sagar Lake: it is a water tank sacred for hindus and it is believed that it has drops from all holy rivers and pools in india.
Orissa State Museum: it is one of the best maintained museum with old artifacts.
Mukteshwar Temple: it is a 10th century temple and is a monument of importance in the study of development of hindu temples in Odisha. It is dedicated to lord shiva.
HOW TO REACH-
By Road – Bhubaneshwar is well linked to all the states in india.
By Rail – It is a maor railhead of east coast railway and is linked Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Guwhati, Banglore, Mumbai, Ahemdabad and other important parts.
By Air – It is also we ll connected by air from Chennai, Kolkata, Varanasi, Nagour, Vishakhapatnam on an daily basis flights.
