Fast Facts

• Best Season: Oct - Mar
• Languages: Oriya, Hindi, English, Bengali
• Weather: Winters 7 to 32°C, Summers 19 to 45°C

Bhubaneshwar at a Glance:

A flourishing hub of sculpture and culture, once the core of erstwhile Kalinga Realm, Bhubaneshwar, at the present is famous as the capital city of Orissa. The name Bhubaneshwar means the ‘Lord of the Universe’. The history of this holy land of temples goes back more than 2,000 years. On account of the large number of shrines and temples, the State of Orissa also is called the ‘Cathedral of the East’. Once upon a time, the Bindu Sagar tank was enclosed by more than 7,000 shrines out of which 500 are still detectable. All these temples were constructed in luxurious Oriya style.

This was the charm of these shrines that made the great poet, Rabindranath Tagor to utter that these are the perfect place where eyes rest as well as place where eyes cannot rest. This abode of God, Bhubaneshwar has been encapsulated by a selection of idols symbolizing the good and the evil, the enormous and the irrelevant and the daily incidences of human life.

Culture:

Bhubaneswar embraces an affluent artistic ritual, which benefited from transformation tradition from the holy places. This land of dexterous artists & craftsmen, still preserve their genesis and nativity and incessantly making an effort to sluice it to outfit a varying milieu.

In the gleaming traditional Odissi Dance, the richness of Orissa culture can easily be depicted. The elaborate and graceful hand, facial and feet movements as well as expressions are all the supplementary charms of this form of dance. The dance contains ‘Gita Govinda’ of Jayadev, which is the 12th century epic dealing with narratives portraying Krishna's feeling of affection for Radha articulating both godly and adoring emotions in this dance play. In ancient times the dance was a sort of devotion, which was organized in the premises of temples as a cultural gift to the Gods.

The cultural and ancient dance of fishermen, ‘Chaitghoda’, represents rich traditional legacy and is carried out by using a mannequin horse illustrating the scuffle drama termed as ‘Pari ka Nritya’.

Further folk as well as tribal dance forms include ‘Danda Nata’, which is a dance drama depicting gymnastic attractions in which dancers do balancing performances and acts over bamboo stilts. During festivals and celebrations, Chhah-masked dance is performed.

Culture: The People of Orissa:

The land of Orissa is known to provide shelter for various people in primeval days. Primitive hill clans such as Sabar or Saora were preliminary homesteaders. These people inhabited at this location since Mahabharata days. Majority of tribal inhabitants have been stimulated by Hindus and have used to hold Hindu customs, bearings and ceremonies. The best example of these tribes is the Bonda Parajas of Koraput district.

These ethnic groups are not at all contacted by neoteric culture and hence through the ages, the clannish customs have been left impeccably. Each ethnic group contains its own distinct culture, language, social customs and belief.

At the present, Orissa is the state that features third highest tribal state with more than 62 tribes. One can find tribal civilization in Phulbani, Korapur, Mayurbhanj and Sundargarh districts. The provincial language over here is Oriya that belongs to the Aryan origin of languages that is intimately related to Bengali, Assamese and Maithili.

Pilgrimage Attractions in Bhubaneshwar:

Bhubaneswar Temples : The shrines located over here are major tourist attractions and hub for pilgrimage. Most of the places of worship are situated next to the Bindu-sarovara Tank located 2 km in south of this city center. In west of the tank, one can come across Lingaraja and Vital Duel Temples. At east of the tank there are Parasumaresvara & Muktesvara Temples. At east of Muktesvara Temple, the Rajrani aalong with Brahmesvara shrines are located at a walking distance of 10-15 minutes.

Muktesvara Temple : This small graceful place of worship has been depicted as the most delicately bejeweled Bhubaneshwar temple that was constructed during 10th century. It features a tower that is 11m (35 feet) high. The most noteworthy features of this shrine are sandstone carvings and this temple is also renowned for its carved dwarves, patterned gateway, and elaborated motif statuettes of a happy lion, festooned with beaded fringes in its mouth. The name Muktesvara depicts the Lord who imparts liberty through yoga. The temple of Siddeswara also is palced over here and features Ganesha statue. Stuck between Muktesvara and the highway, the small Marichi Kund is renowned to cure unproductiveness in women. It also is a tranquil and pleasing place to take a seat for a short time.

Lingaraja Temple (11th century) : The shrines’ presiding idol is the Hari-Hara Linga, Svayambhu linga, which are half Vishnu and half Siva. He is also called Tribhuvaneswara (the Lord of the 3 worlds). The lingam of Lingaraja (Krittivasas) is an un-sculpted block of granite, which is 8 feet in diameter and is raised 8” above the land. The Siva lingam is washed every day with milk, water and bhang. Besides, there are also many other idols in the shrine. There is an idol of Parvati, in the northeast area of the temple.

Raj Rani Temple : This holy place built in 11th century, is encircled by a pleasant backyard, no longer is used for devotion and worship. This place of worship was devoted to Lord Brahma and is famous its finely engraved tower. It is about one km east of the central road and is one of the later temples of Bhubaneshwar.

There are illustrations of 8 dikpalas (guards) along with 8 most significant demigods. These deities include Indra (at east) the leader of the divine beings, Yamaraja (at south) deity of death, Agni (in southeast) divinity of fire, Varuna(at west) god of water, Nirritti (southwest), Kubera(at north) god of wealth, Vayu (in northwest) god of air, and Isana (in northeast).

Parasurameswara Temple : This holy place is the ancient Siva temple in Bhubaneswar, which was constructed in the late 7th century. On this shrine one can find various intricate designs. It is near to this city to Puri highway, which is on the east part of Bindu-sarovara and northeast of the Lingaraja holy place. This temple is finely preserved as well as most extraordinary of Bhubaneswar's early shrines. It features appealing carvings and patterns horse and elephant processions along with exclusively carved windows. The Shasra linga that is a cluster of 1,000 small lingas, is in the corner of the courtyard.

Vaital Deul Temple : This fascinating 8th century shrine is devoted to Chamunda (Kali). This holy place is next to Bindu Sagar and features some exciting exterior carvings. You require a flashlight or torch to observe a good sight of its interior.

ISKCON Temple (413-517) : This wonderfully built temple is positioned on National Highway-No.5, Nayapali. Krishna, Balaram, Baladeva, Jagannatha and Subhadra and Gaura-Nitai are its deities. You can also come across a recent Radha-Krishna temple. Srila Prabhupada placed the foundation stone for this place of worship in February 1977 that got finished in 1992.

Brahmeshwara Temple : With active reverence and worship, this shrine was built around 1050. It is a Siva-linga place of worship and is recognized for its amazingly carved statuettes. Its most important tower is more than 18m high. From the east of the main highway it is about a km far from Raj Rani temple. On its north wall of the covered entrance there is a statue of Laksmi.

If you want to stay over here then you can use its small guesthouse with accommodation facilities. But ensure following the ashram rules.

Celebrations:

The ethnic fair comes around in the end of January. At Lingaraj temple, Shivaratri and Hakateswar Temple Atri are held during Feb-March all through the Orissa. Magha Saptami is organized at Khandagiri at outdoor locations to Bhubaneshwar.

Bali Yatra (October/November) : A fair is organized on the shores of the Mahanadi River in Cuttack.

At Ashokashtami (April/May) : Lord Lingaraja’s statue is taken out in demonstration, which is part of a chariot celebration.

Panashankanti (Fire-walking) : It takes place in a range of areas on the very first day of Baisakh.

Kali Puja (in October/November) : The whole town is lit with lamps.

In June-July, the extraordinary Rath Yatra is held at Baripada, Puri, and other regions of the state.

Bhubaneswar Hotels:

• Hotel Grand Central
• MAYFAIR Hotels & Resorts
• Saraswati Retreat
• Hotel Pushpak
• Ginger Hotel Bhubaneshwar
• Swosti Premium

How to Get in?

Bhubaneswar Airport : Air links to Kolkata, Hyderabad, Delhi and Nagpur.

Rail links : Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai (1691 km), Delhi (1745 km)

National Highway : Kolkata (480 kms) and Chennai (1225 kms), various buses run on these routes that connect to Bhubaneshwar and its other cities.

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