book in puri

Temple of Lord Alarnath

Lord Alarnath temple in Brahmagiri, around 25 km from Puri, is not a big tourist destination but a famous religious place for all Krishna devotees. It is explained that in Satya Yuga, Lord Brahma came and worshipped Lord Vishnu here on top of a hill. One day Lord Vishnu appeared and said, "I am very pleased with your worship. Make a four-armed Deity of Me holding shankha, chakra, gada, and padma (conch shell, disk, club, and lotus). The Deity should be made from a piece of black stone. Also install a Deity of Garuda". Lord Vishnu also said, "This place will be called Brahmagiri (Brahma's hill) because you have worshipped me here". According to mythology, the rulers of Alwar in Rajasthan had established the temple here. The temple was later known as Alwarnath or Alarnath. Long yesrs back (in 1610 A.D) Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu stayed at Alarnath during anavasara period of Lord Jagannath. Anavasara is the two weeks period when Lord Jagannatha take rest in isolation from the rest of the world after suffering from fever due to the annual bathing festival (Snana Yatra). Lord Chaitanya claimed that he visualised the appearance of Lord Jagannath in Alarnath and spent a long period in worshipping the deity here. It is believed that those who can not worship Lord Jagannath during his stay in the sick chamber can get the blessings of the deity if they visit the Alarnath temple. During this period the temple servitors offered holy rice porridge, known as 'Kheer' in local language, to the lord. During anavasara period of every year thousands of devotees visit Alarnath temple to get the blessings of Lord Alarnath and to taste a pot of famous holy 'Kheer'. In this temple Lord Vishnu is worshiped as Lord Alarnath. The deity has four arms. He holds chakra in his upper right hand, Lotus in his lower right hand, Conch in his upper left hand and club in his lower left hand. Lord Vishnu's carrier eagle, known as Garuda, kneels at the feet of the deity with his hands folded in prayer position. The deities of Lord Krishna's queens Rukmini and Satyabhama are also find inside the temple. Deity of Lord Chaitanya is also found inside the temple. There is a stone slab in front of the deity which bears impressions from Lord Chaitanya's body. When Lord Chaitanya first lay in full respect in front of Lord Alarnath, the stone below Lord Chaitanya melted from His blissful touch. There is a lake behind the temple where Chandan Yatra (Sandalwood Fbuyeestival) is celebrated for 21 days every year.

RAGHURAJPUR || PATTACHITRA

Raghurajpur, a small village in Puri district, occupies a unique place in the cultural map of India. It is famous for its master Pattachitra painters and as the birthplace of legendary Odissi dancer Kelucharan Mohapatra. The village is inhabited by artisans producing sheer poetry on pieces of treated cloth, dried palm leaf or paper. Situated on the southern bank of river Bhargavi and surrounded by coconut, palm, mango, jackfruit groves and other tropical trees, Raghurajpur has an idyllic setting. A number of betel vines dot the nearby paddy fields. The village runs from east to west with houses arranged in two neat rows, facing each other. The outer walls of most of the houses are wonderfully decorated with mural paintings of mythological scenes from the Ramayan and the Mahabharat. At the centre, runs a line of small temples and the lone Bhagabat Tungi, the community meeting place of the villagers. The presiding deity of this village is Goddess Bhuasuni and a temple is dedicated to her. Apart from this temple other temples are dedicated to Gods like Radha Mohan, Gopinath, Raghunath, Laxminarayan and Gouranga.

This coconut-palm shaded village is quite different from other villages of the State. It has its own identity. What is unusual is the number of outsiders including foreigners visiting the village round the year. These people don't come here to see a typical Orissan village from close quarters but to see and enjoy the rich traditions of Orissan arts and crafts at one place. The primary art of this village is Pattachitra, but apart from this, the village has a community of artisans, who produce different varieties of handicrafts items such as palm leaf engravings, stone carvings, papier mache toys and masks, wood carvings, wooden toys, cowdung toys and tusser paintings. Perhaps nowhere else in India one finds such a congregation of so many arts at one place. This is also the only village in India, where each family is engaged in one craft or another. Some of them are winners of National Awards. One comes across the best tradition of Orissan paintings and some of the finest pieces of work in this village. “AT Raghurajpur, every villager is an artist and every house is an artist’s studio.” Here, art is not just a profession or passion but it is a way of life.

Painting on House wall

View of the Village

Painting on House wall

Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) selected this village to revive the ancient wall paintings of Orissa and to give this village its rightful place both in the cultural and tourist maps of the country. It was declared as a heritage village by INTACH in 2000 and became a major rural tourist destination of Orissa. It attracts thousands of domestic and foreign tourists. It is the first village to be developed as part of the rural tourism promotion project. Every year Raghurajpur hosts a spring festival in the month of February/March named as 'Basant Utsav - Parampara'. It was first organized in 1993 by State Tourism Department and Astern Zonal Cultural Centre, Kolkata. Huge crowd visits this village during this festival.

To reach Raghurajpur one has to get down at Chandanpur bus stop, which is about 10 km from Puri and 50 km from Bhubaneswar on N.H.No.203 connecting Puri and Bhubaneswar, two important tourist destinations of the country. From Chandanpur one has to take a cycle-rickshaw or walk on a 1.3 km scenic road to reach this village. One may also hire a taxi either from Puri or from Bhubaneswar to reach the village.

Temple of Goddess Mangala

Kakatpur is a small village in Puri District and is situated at a distance of 50 kms from Puri, on the Puri-Astaranga road. Situated on the bank of river Prachi, this temple is famous for Goddess Mangala. Goddess Mangala is the presiding deity of Kakatpur and is worshipped in this temple. There is a famous story behind the evolution of the name of the deity as 'Kakatpur' Mangala and believed by the local people. Goddess Managla kept herself hidden under the deep water of river Prachi. Once a boatman was sailing his boat across river Prachi. At that time the river was outpouring and flodded so he was unable to sail his boat to the middle of the river. He spent whole day and night but not able to sail his boat and during early morning, before the dawn, Goddess Mangala came in his dream and asked him to recover her from the water and to establish her in nearby Mangalapur village. The boatman dived into the water and able to find the deity from the bed of the river. Then as per the direction of the Goddess he established the figure of the deity in a temple in Mangalapur village. After this the boatman saw a black crow dived into the water and did not come out of the water for hours and days, the crow detained inside the water of river Prachi exactly in the same place from where he recovered the figure of Goddess Mangala. In local oriya language 'Crow' means 'Kaka' and 'Detained' means 'Atka'. So by combining the two words it becomes 'Kaka-Atka', so during the course of time the Mangalapur village is know as 'Kakat' (Kaka-Atka) pur and the Goddess is known as Kakatpur Mangala.

Kakatpur Mangala temple has a close relation with Lord Jagannath temple of puri during the Navakalebara (Renovation of the Deities) festival. Old deities are buried under earth at the dedicated place inside Jagannath temple and new idols are created for Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra. The new idols are created from a sacred wood known as 'Daru Brahma' in local language. Nobody knows from where to find the sacred wood to create the new idols, so as per the tradition the priests of Lord Jagannath temple come to Kakatpur Mangala to pray the Goddess to help them to find the sacred wood. The priests seelp in front of the Goddess with their face down and then Goddess Mangala come in their dream and tell the exact location of the three sacred trees for the three deities. This custom has been performed from years together without any deviation. This shows the power and energy of Goddess Mangala and her blessings for her devotees.

The most popular festival of Goddess Mangala is 'Jhamu Yatra'. It occurs on the first Tuesday of the Secred month Vaisakh (April 14 to May 15) every year. On that occasion devotees collect sacred water from river Prachi and pray the deity to get her blessings, then with the earthen pot , filled with sacred water, on their soldier, they are able to walk on the surface of burning fire spread on a long channel on bare feet. Due to their faith on Goddess Mangala and their Mother's blessing on them, the devotess are unhurt and uninjured while perferming such a risky custom. Every year thousands of devotees come to Kakatpur to celebrate the Jhamu festival.

JHAMU YATRA PHOTOS

Temple of Goddess Ramachandi

The temple of Goddess 'Ramachandi' on the river mouth of Kushabhadra river is a splendid scenic picnic resort. It is situated 7 kms before Konark on the Marine drive road from Puri to Konark. Ramachandi is popularly beleived the presiding deity of Konark, and the most benevolent Chandi known. It is certainly more ancient than the Sun temple at Konark. From the architectural point of view, the temple of Ramachandi is not important but from the religious point of view, it is one of the famous Sakta pithas of Puri.

A graceful Chandi, seated on a lotus in a small temple half hidden by sand mounds, on the river mouth of 'Kushabhadra' and the endless Bay of Bengal stretched to eternity, and a thick growth of Casuarina plantation around is the scenic maginificence of the place. Before construction of the Marine drive road, the place was not accessable to out side visitors. However it attracted large number of local devotees to offer sacrifices 'Bali' in the month of Ashwna Picnicking at Ramachandi was then a youthful feat. The romantic sight has always fascinated young lovers, students and picnicking troups from far wide besides a handful of professional fisherman who exploit inhabitants. However after the construction of the Marine dive road, the place has become very easily accessable. We see regular crowd of pleasure seekers both from the neighbour hood and distant places every day.

A legend regarding the deity is ever fresh and popular among the locals. "Kalapahada" the rebel Hindu Brahmin Youth turned islam, vowed to destroy all the temples of Hindu worship during 17th Contury. After destroying the Sun temple, Kalapahad approached to Ramachandi temple to destroy it. Then Goddess Ramachandi dressed as a Maluni (maid servant) asked Kalapahad to wait at the door till she bring water from the river for the Goddess. Kalapahad anxiously waited for a long time to get some cold water. When it was too late and the Maluni did not return he exhausted and entered inside the temple and found the throne empty. Then he thought the Maluni took away the deity with her and with anger he followed the Maluni. When he reached the bank of the Kushabhadra river he found the goddess Ramachandi floating in the middle of the river. At that time the river was outpouring, so he came back without able to reach the middle of the river. Then Goddess Ramachandi came in dream of a panda (priest) and told him to built a temple on the bank of the Kushabhadra river. This place is now known as Ramachandi. Through out the year many visitors come here to get the blessing of Goddess Ramachandi and to enjoy the scenic beauty of river Kushabhadra and Bay of Bengal.

SATAPADA

Located at a distance of 50 kilometers from Puri, Satapada on Chilika is very famous for Irrawaddy Dolphins (Orcaella brevirostris). 'Sata' means 'Seven' and 'Pada' Means 'Village', so the name Satapada means group of seven villages. It is located on the southern part of the Chilika Lake. The exact geographical location is 19°40'10"N and 85°26'38"E. Satapada is also famous for Sea Mouth Island where Chilka lake meets the Bay of Bengal.

THINGS TO DO

Satapada, alternatively spelt as Satapara, is one of the most popular tourist place of Orissa. Here Dolphins and the scenic Sea Mouth attract large number of tourists every year. Satpada also provides the opportunity for viewing a memorable sunrise and sunset. It is advisable to reach there in morning hours and spent much of your time with Dolphins. At the dolphin viewpoint it is difficult to view the complete dolphin. If you are lucky then you will be able to see entire dolphin, generally some portion of the tail or head of the dolphin is visible while they are swimming. If they jumps then only the complete dolphin can be seen. Satapada is an ideal spot to enjoy with family.

Another major attraction is the nearby Rajahansa Island. It is a small island onChilika at the mouth of the lagoon. This island is named after the famous bird ‘Rajhans’. A one-and-a-half-hours boat journey across the Chilika Lake from Satapada, takes visitors to Rajahansa island. The island is 18 kilometer from Satapada. Rajahans is a small strip of land which has the lagoon on one side and the Bay of Bengal on the other, with a forest and mountains in between.

Though Satapada is not vary famous for migratory birds, but visitors may find different varieties of migratory birds here because the famous Nalaban bird sanctuary is very near to Satapada. It takes around 4 hours by boat from Satapada to reach Nalaban.

The Dolphin Motor Boat Association provides and manages motor boats at Satapada. Visitors can hire boats to go to the dolphin viewpoint to get a sight of the dolphins. The Motor Boat Association has rate chat for the different types of boats based on their capacity and duration of the visit. Tourists can also hire boats to go to Nalaban and Rajahansa Island.

WHERE TO STAY

Satapada is having the resort accomodation from Orissa Tourism Development Corporation Ltd. (OTDC). It is known as Yatrinivas and provides excellent accommodation although the food is quite ordinary. Rooms can be booked at the tourist offices in Puri, Chilika and Bhubaneswar. Online booking facility is also available.

Yatrinivas Satapada Address: Brahmagiri, Puri - 752001 Phone: (06752) 262077 Email: otdc@ortel.net/otdc@panthanivas.com Total Room/Bed: 28/56 Facilities: Restaurant, Conference Hall, T.V., Leasure Platform with swing for children. Website:http://www.panthanivas.com/satapada.htm

Click to Book Online

HOW TO REACH

Air : Nearest airport is at Bhubaneswar (110 kilometers).

Rail : Nearest rail head is Puri (50 kilometers). Puri connects to all the major places in the country via superfast and express trains.

Road: Satpada is connected to Puri(50 kilometers) and other nearby places by road. National Highway number 203 connects Satapada to Puri. Bhubaneshwar and Puri have daily bus services along with taxis to Satapada. Conducted tours are also organised by OTDC and local tour operators is  AVAILABLE at Puri.

CHILIKA

Bird at Chilika

Queen of natural beauty, Chilika, the largest brackish water lake in Asia covering an area of over 1,100 sq. km is a great attraction for the tourists for fishing, bird watching and boating. In winter Chilika aflutters with thousands of indigenous and migratory birds of many varieties from far and near - even from the distant Siberia. The fabulous beauty of Chilika which has inspired poets to sing its glory and which can be best enjoyed from Balugaon, Barkul, Rambha and Satpada must be seen to be believed. One can also have a glimpse of the lake from the moving trains and vehicles on the road near these places. The atmosphere is just serene and undisturbed amidst the blue expanse of water on one side and an evergreen range of hills on the other. Dotted with a host of islands with romantic names, a cruise in Chilika will be a life-long memory.

Places of tourist interest in Chilika : Kalijai Island, Honeymoon Island, Breakfast Island, Birds Island, Nalabana (Island of Reeds), Parikud Island, etc. are some of the important and interesting spots inside the lake. The Island of Kalijai is famous as a center of religious worship due to the temple of Goddess Kalijai where a big fair is held on the occasion of Makara Sankranti that falls in January every year. The Island of Nalabana, 8 km in circumference occupies a unique place in the vast expanse of Chilika Lake as it happens to be the central point for the migratory birds. One can view the dolphins at Chilika mouth near Satpara. Kalijai Island Approach : By air to Bhubaneswar (Chilika is around 100 kms from Bhubaneswar), road and rail. Best time to visit : October to June. Stay : Stay arrangements can be done with the local hotels and in the OTDC Guest House, at Rambha, Barkul and Satpada on Chilika. Places around Chilika Narayani Nirmaljhara Banpur * Distance from Rambha * Narayani (22 km)* Goddess Narayani adorns the valley hill-top which is girdled by a stream. It is an ideal picnic spot. Nirmaljhara (11 km)*   Nirmaljhara has earned its name as an ideal place for picnic as well as pilgrimage. A stream that emerges out from the feet of a Vishnu image enhances the importance and sanctity of the place. Banpur (42 km)* Famous for the time honoured temple of Goddess Bhagabati, Banpur has earned celebrity as a center of religious activities. Once it was the capital of Sailodvaba dynasty, responsible for the construction of the early group of temples in Bhubaneswar. The large number of Buddhist images discovered at Banpur relate the place to the Vajrayan cult of Buddhism. The temple of "Dakshya Prajapati" is a fine specimen of extraordinary artistic excellence of Orissan art. Banpur is 8 km from Balugaon, 42 km from Rambha and 104 km from Bhubaneswar.