5 Days Bhubaneshwar Itinerary
I am calling this our Bhubaneswar trip – but this was also in and around the city. We travelled to Bhubaneswar in Odisha in February, 2020 and this trip is very memorable for us, not just because of the amazing places we visited, but also because this was the last vacation we took just before Covid struck.
Bhubaneswar Itinerary – Day 1
Nandankanan Zoo
Most of our trips have a ‘Zoo day’ in the itinerary. Our daughter loves animals and we try to make every vacation fun for her as well.
Since zoos tend to be crowded over the weekends, we typically plan our itineraries in such a way that our zoo visit doesn’t fall on a weekend or a national holiday.
We started our Day 1 with a drive (we hired a Zoomcar for the entire trip) to the Nandankanan zoo. It was raining and honestly, the relentless drizzle did dampen our spirits a little bit. Nevertheless, we started exploring and in some time, the sun was out and so were the animals!
The zoo was beautiful with the animals housed in enclosures larger than the ones we’d seen in other zoos. We began with the birds section, where the highlight was a large enclosure that had magnificent pelicans, storks, egrets and herons. The birds didn’t seem to mind the rain a bit and were busy feeding on the fish in the enclosure.
The big cats were majestic and the safaris were well organised.
A little bear cub came running towards our bus and tried to get in through the bus window. Our girl was all excited (she was 5 then) and tried to catch hold of the cub saying “teddy bear! teddy bear!!”
It was a day well spent.
Bhubaneswar Itinerary – Day 2
Puri Jagannath Temple
We decided to start the day with the Jagannath temple at Puri to beat the crowd. The darshan at Puri was nice and it gave a good start to our day.
Konark Sun Temple
We made our way to the world famous Sun Temple of Konark next. The temple is dedicated to the sun god Surya. The iconographic representation of Surya is usually in a chariot drawn by seven horses. The deity is usually shown standing and holding a lotus flower with two hands.
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Raghurajpur Craft Village
After lunch near the Jagannath temple in Puri, our next stop for the day was the village of Raghurajpur, famed for its Pattachitra paintings, an art form that is at least 2,000 years old. This village is about 15 km from Puri. The route we chose took us along the bank of an irrigation canal. The village has two main streets of artisans’ homes. We were welcomed by an artisan who took us into their studio. This studio was run by two brothers – one a sculptor and the other a painter.
The painter explained the process of making pattachitra paintings, which involves all the adult members of the household. The women handle the preparation of the base and blocking in colours whereas the master artisan handles the line work and finishing touches with sealing the painting by lacquering or varnishing it.
They start with a cotton base and paint a mixture of chalk and tamarind seed based gum over it to act as a base. After painting multiple layers of this base to a satisfactory thickness, the ‘canvas’ is rubbed down with a stone to smoothen it. Depending on the level of mastery that the artisan has achieved, the work may or may not involve outlines being sketched in with pencil or charcoal. If no outlines are needed, the painting starts with the line work being directly done with brush and paint. The colours are then blocked in. Any remaining details are painted on before the painting is then sealed in by a layer of lacquer or varnish to protect it from the elements.
We were told that in the past, the palette was restricted to the five colours that were largely available naturally – white, red, yellow, blue and black. Nowadays, acrylic colours seem to be the preferred medium for use on the prepared canvas.
The artisans also make their own brushes from either squirrel or mongoose hair. There is another variant of Pattachitra that is either painted or engraved on dried palm leaves, without any surface preparation unlike the canvas variant. There seems to be a strong mathematical basis for the ratios and proportions that govern the sizes and placement of the figures of Jagannatha, Balarama and Subhadra that seem to be the primary theme of both the canvas and the palm leaf variants.
There is seldom any shading and instead, the placement of bold colours and intricate outlines make the images come to life!
While the traditional themes seem to have been the presiding deities of the Puri temple and other tales from Hindu mythology, it was heartening to see the artisans have broadened their creative expression to feature contemporary themes such as the Venkateshwara deity of Tirupati, animals and birds, floral motifs, mandalas incorporating Warli art elements which also appeal to a broader audience.
After the pattachitra studio, we got a chance to visit the studio of another artist where he showed us a painting that his late father, a pattachitra master, had made using only natural colours.
There was pride in his voice as he explained the details of the painting. We could see that the artist continues to teach him from beyond in his humility when he showed us a copy that he had made of the painting, but with acrylic colours, and pointed out his own shortcomings with the admission that he still had many things to learn from the original painting.
This is why we find travelling so enriching, the common thread unifying the human condition, the quest to discover new ways of expression and in the words of Neil Gaiman, efforts to ‘make good art’ prevail irrespective of the hardships life brings one’s way.
The artist also showed us some new concepts of wooden toys and functional everyday items like pen holders, mail holders, etc. that he was working on, incorporating pattachitra art elements. He showed us the images of Puri deities and other motifs he’d painted on betel nuts, coconuts, bottles, kettles and Tassar silk. There were also paper mache masks of Hindu deities with the same bold line work and colours in the pattachitra style.
We bade goodbye to the artists’ village with fond memories of the artists and their warmth when they welcomed us into their studios!
We were curious to see how the village had tided over the crisis that COVID-19 had brought to the artisans, as their only source of livelihood seemed to be from the prolific artwork that they produce. The year 2020 seems to have been a pretty bad one due to lockdowns and suspension of international travel. It was heartening to read that 2021 brought about a revival of their fortunes with State-government sponsored aid in the form of incentivising every 50 sq. ft. of murals with a grant INR 10,000. This has spurred the artists to produce some 7500+ sq.ft. of murals.
Those planning to visit Puri would definitely find it worth their while to visit the village of Raghurajpur and see first hand the unbroken line of an art form that stretches back to at least two millennia, if not more!
Dhauli Ashoka Pillar, Rock Edict and Shanti Stupa
Our next stop on the way back to Bhubaneswar was the hill of Dhaulagiri, called Dhauligiri. This place is generally believed to be the site of the Kalinga war. The war was primarily for the reason of consolidation of the young emperor Ashoka’s power and extension of the Mauryan empire. Kalinga was a stronghold, which thanks to its strategic position on the Bay of Bengal and their merchant navy that traded with Southeast Asia, was considered a threat to Maurya supremacy from the time of Chandragupta Maurya, Ashoka’s grandfather.
The decisive military victory of Ashoka over Kalinga came at an enormous cost.
By some accounts, more than 2,00,000 lives were lost on both sides of the belligerents with a nearly equal number being deported from Kalinga by the victors as forced labour.
The death and destruction unleashed on the populace is said to have deeply affected the emperor, a non-practising Buddhist. Ashoka gave up the policy of empire expansion and focused on building a better society under the Mauryan empire. To this effect, he issued several ‘edicts’, inscriptions on boulders, pillars and cave walls dispersed throughout Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The inscriptions have Ashoka’s views on Dhamma – a set of principles which would be acceptable to the population from various faiths and help maintain the peace within the empire. One such group of edicts is on Dhauli hill.
Map of the day
Bhubaneswar Itinerary – Day 3
Chausathi Yogini Temple
This temple from 9th century CE is about 20 km outside of Bhubaneswar. The temple layout is circular in shape with a single entrance/exit. The outer walls have niches in which 9 deities called Katyayanis are installed. Katyayani is a fierce aspect of the Hindu goddess Durga, who slayed the demon Mahishasura.
The temple’s entrance passage leads to a circular sanctum which has 60 yoginis (female deities) installed in simple niches on the inner walls.
The central square sanctum has a small stone platform for offerings with 4 yoginis and bhairavas installed. The temple is under the maintenance of the Archaeological Survey of India.
Raja Rani Temple
This 11th century temple known as Raja Rani temple is in the heart of Bhubaneswar and for this reason, we decided to start the day with the temple so that we could avoid crowds. We did not expect the temple to be completely empty! Probably because pujas are not performed here, there aren’t that many visitors.
During that February morning, the weather was pleasant and this temple was the best place to be at.
The maintenance of this temple is with the Archaeological Survey of India. The temple has a large, well-maintained garden outside it. The temple layout has two structures – the sanctum (called the deul or vimana) and a porch from where the sanctum is viewed. THe porch is called the jagamohana. These are standard features of Orissa temple architecture.
The entrance to the jagamohana has two pillars with half-serpent half-human beings called ‘nagas’ entwined on them. The base of the pillars have a line of elephants above which are a line of lions.
Parasurameswara Temple
This is one of the oldest temples in Orissa believed to be from 650 CE. The temple is dedicated to Shiva but has depictions of Shakta deities on the outside. Parasurameswara temple is the oldest to have the deul-jagamohana combination of Nagara architecture.
The images on the temple range from those of deities, vampire-demons, scenes from mythologies, Shiva and his sons (Karthikeya and Ganesha), and general images such as fruits, flowers, bords, animals, and hunting scenes, etc.
The temple is under the administration of the Archaeological Survey of India.
This temple is also regarded as the first in Bhubaneswar to contain depictions of the Saptamatrikas – mother goddesses in Hinduism.
Mukteswara – Siddeswara Temple
This 15th century temple is in Bhubaneswar. The temple is in close proximity to Kapilesvara and Radhakrishna temples, but in the same complex as the Mukteshwar.
The temple is on a low plinth. Entry to the temple is via a beautiful stone arch.
The presiding deity of the temple is a Shivalinga. The deities housed in the other niches of the temple are Parvati, Kartikeya and Ganesa.
There is a well-maintained pond on the rear of the temple.
Bindu Sagar
Bindusagar lake is near the Lingaraja temple in the Old Town part of Bhubaneswar.
The other temples in close proximity are Ananta Vasudeva, Mohini, Uttaresvara and Makandesvara temples. Plovers and lapwings were abundantly present in the lake. The lake, although historically dated from 7th/8th century CE, has an origin story where Siva used his trident to strike the ground and created a spring to quench Parvati’s thirst.
Bindu Sagar is considered to be the site where the legend occured and the water is considered to be sanctified by the waters of all the rivers and streams of India.
Map of the day
Bhubaneswar Itinerary – Day 4
Udayagiri Khandagiri Caves
Udayagiri and Khandagiri caves are near Bhubaneswar. They were created/used sometime around 1st century CE as residents for Jain ascetics. The Udayagiri complex has 18 caves. Some of the caves such as Rani Gumpha, Jaya Vijaya, Manchapuri, Hati, and Ganesha have ornate relief carvings whereas the other caves are spartan.
The Khandagiri complex has 15 caves. The caves have carvings of tirthankaras, nayikas, gandharvas, animals, birds and ornate friezes. The other carvings are of deities such as Rishabhanatha, Parshvanatha, Neminatha, etc.
The Archaeological Survey of India has listed it in the “Must See” Indian Heritage and is responsible for the administration of the monument.
Brahmeshwar Temple
This 9th century temple is dedicated to Shiva and is located in Bhubaneswar. The vimana/shikhara/deul-jagamohana structure is followed here. It is an early example of iron as a construction material in temple architecture.
The other deities featured are the eight guardians of the cardinal directions, horrific depictions of Shiva and other deities. The plan of the temple has one main shrine surrounded by four subsidiary shrines at the four corners of the temple.
The temple is covered on both the outside as well as the inside with ornate carvings.
Map of the day
