Sunday, January 8, 2012

"Roadissi" Dancing on the Roads of Orissa

      "Roadissi" is the chronicle of our road trip to the beautiful state of Orissa/Odisha.  After reading a newspaper article about the famous temple of India "The Sun Temple of Konarak" being in danger, we decided to visit this marvelous  temple. Though our initial plan was only a 2 to 3 days trip covering Puri - Konark- Lake Chilika - Bhubaneshwar, on researching for places in Orissa, we realised 2 to 3 days were insufficient!!! A good 10 to 15 days would give us a good chance of covering most of the places and since we were driving so far, it made sense to make the best use of our time! Rule number one was to complete all our official works so we could take leave without any hindrances. Finally, we managed to get a good  two weeks leave and here on started our adventurous and unforgettable road trip to Orissa.
       Orissa is blessed  with immense natural, cultural and religious heritage. James Fergusson (author of the book " History of Indian and Eastern Architecture") declares in his book that " there are more temples now in Orissa than in all the rest of Hindustan put together". W W Hunter stated that "From end to end, it is one region of pilgrimage". Orissa, rightly called as the land of temples, is home to the most beautiful masterpieces of architecture. 
Our Itinerary
1) Pilgrimage - Puri Jaganath, Puri  and the Lingaraja  Temple, Bhubaneshwar
2) Architectural, Hindu - Konark, Bhubaneshwar, Cuttack, Banks of  the River Mahanadi
3) Architectural, Buddhism/Jainism - Dhaulagiri, Udayagiri (2), Ratnagiri, Lalitagiri and Khandagiri
4) Natural wonders - Atri and Taptapani Hot Water Springs
5) Wildlife - Simlipal Tiger Reserve, Bhitarkanika and Gahirmatha, Chilika and Satkosia
6) Beaches - Gahirmatha, Chilika, Puri, and Chandrabagh
7) Forts - Sisupalgarh and Cuttack
8) Art - Pipli, the Art Village
9) Asokan Edicts - Dhaulagiri and Behrampur
 Unfortunately, the Simlipal Tiger Reserve remained closed due to Naxal activities in the region, thus ruining our opportunity of visiting the reserve as well as India's second highest waterfall - the Barehipani waterfall (1300 ft), which falls inside the reserve limits. Also, visits to Satkosia, Taptapani, Cuttack and Behrampur  failed to materialize due to various reasons. Apart from these, as it was road trip, we got to explore a lot of hidden treasures of both states, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. Road trips always are an added advantage as we have no time limits and free to explore any place we feel like!

Places to visit in Orissa
Roadissi - Dancing on the roads of Orissa
  Our companions of the trip
1) Information Center -  "Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent " by Takeo Kamiya, India - Eyewitness Travel of DK, Incredible India of IMS, Wildlife Holidays in India of Outlook Traveller, Konark - By Thomas Donaldson, Temple Cities of Orissa - By Balaram Mishra and few details collected from various websites
2) Clicking partners - Canon Power shot G3 (5 GB) and Canon EOS 450 D (16 GB)
3) GPS -  Eicher Road Atlas (wonderful road atlas) and IMS India Road Atlas
4) Music partner - Our good old pen drive with 4 GB capacity, full of songs (old and new Kannada and Hindi songs, dropped the latest ones as some of them have no meaning at all!!)
5) Telecom partners - BSNL, Airtel and Vodafone - had three for safety as we were unsure of the connectivity (though it turned out to be far better than we expected). Very important to keep in touch with our loved ones
6) A travel diary for writing  down  details of places visited, etc., including expenditure

Our Travel Oath
1) Not to exceed a speed limit of 100 kmph (Result:Never exceeded 100 kmph)
2) No night driving beyond 10 pm . (Result:Oath broken on last day while returning back, by celebrating New Year's during the drive)
3) Calling home everyday (Result:Did not dare to break this one!) 
 
The only package trip we opted for, during our trip : 2 days at the Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary. Halted at the Sand Pebbles Resort, very close by to the sanctuary limits

Total Cost : Under Rs 60,000/- per couple, including the Bhitarkanika package (16k) and diesel expense (14k), which are the major contributors

Road Conditions : 95 % of the roads were excellent, rest were manageable except  for a kilometer stretch that leads to the Bhitarkanika Sanctuary
Total km : 4438
Number of Days : 14, 19 December 2010 5:15 am to 01 Jan 2011 2:30 pm
Total No of photos taken : 14 GB, 7352 clicks
The Beginning
Morning Hues
First Sunrise of our Trip
Smooth Road Connecting Chintamani and Madanpalle
A P State Highway  61
Traffic Pile Up on the River Godavari Bridge
Traffic Jam at Vizag Steel Junction
Awesome Road Connecting Puri and Konark
Wow ! What a Sight - The Sun Temple, Konarak
Muddy  Road Leading to the Wild Bhitarkanika
Last Sunset of our  trip  (Visakhapatnam)
 The End and Beginning of a New Journey





The dance shall continue ......

34 comments:

  1. wow! Wow! Simply WOW!
    Amazing.

    Rajesh.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have been to Puri and Sun Temple twice and was completely bowled over by its grandness, beauty and engineering...
    Eagerly waiting for your trip to begin, this is an amazing appetizer.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow that was impressive!
    Which car did you travel in?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wonderful.. A comprehensive coverage of the state of Odisha..

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love the way you named it...Lovely trip with great shots...I think we can use the itinerary.

    ReplyDelete
  6. These are awesome and incredible!! Impressive indeed! Superb captures! Thanks for sharing the trip! I do appreciate your Travel Oath -- and your sense of humor! Hope you have a great week! Thank you as always for your visits and comments on my blog! They are so appreciated!

    Sylvia

    ReplyDelete
  7. dheeraj amrutha,

    This is my second comment for the same post and that too on the same day. U guys rock. Could not hold back from commenting again. Great curtain raiser of the trip. As i said in my first comment - Simply WOW!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great!!! I will be wandering around there in mid Feb. I could use some info from your trip reports :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I dont have words.. Bring it on....

    ReplyDelete
  10. Excellent coverage. Looking forward to more details from the trip.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Awaiting for detailed the story to be unveiled! BTW, I travelled 4k+ kms in a minute! (first photo to last photo) :-)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Fantastic way to end one year and ring in another one!! and a place i have dreamt of visiting so often, but have yet to visit! waiting for detailed travelogues and pics!

    ReplyDelete
  13. This will surely be another mega experience unfolding... Orissa is comparatively less explored and I hope to find loads of info from your posts.
    Awaiting the detailed posts of each place :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Amazing!! Fabulous way to bring in 2012.

    www.rajniranjandas.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  15. lovely collection and seems like you had a cool time!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Congratulations on your 4444 kms road trip to Orissa, a rocking start for new year hope to have 25 posts

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wow, that is indeed a great trip. Now expecting detail posts.

    ReplyDelete
  18. This was quite a road trip. I hope you'll share more of your photos in future posts. The temple is amazing, but I really like the photo of your first sunrise.

    ReplyDelete
  19. nice "Title"

    beautiful photos esp sunrise

    thanks

    ReplyDelete
  20. speechless n fully envying you

    btw, the morning hues & both the sunrise & sunset photos just too too good

    ReplyDelete
  21. wonderful post.... interesting to read the travel history and plans...

    roadway pictures are just amazing... u have captured all types of roadways in the state in an amazing manner...

    expecting for detailed posts of each places... never knew oddisa had this much...

    ReplyDelete
  22. sun set ,road sun temple
    beautiful pics

    ReplyDelete
  23. Having stayed in Orissa for 2 years, I end up feeling nostalgic whenever I see a triplog about Orissa.Puri and Konark were our regular weekend dashes and no matter how many times we visited them, we never got bored.
    Loved you blog and the photos

    ReplyDelete
  24. I am planning a trip to Bhubneshwar, Puri & Konark and this post comes handy.The photos are too good.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Great! How was the Bhitarakanika trip? Did you get to meet the crocs? And the turtles? Would love to read more!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bhitarakanika trip was a great experience! Though we met quite a good number of crocodiles, unfortunately the turtles had not arrived yet.

      Delete
  26. Whoaaa the itinerary is kickass. didnt the Orissa temples have Kamasutra sculptures? why dont you post those as well :)

    ReplyDelete
  27. Sounds like the perfect east coast ride to me. Brings back some fond memories of Odisha and the east coast. Loved the pictures! Happy New Year and hope you have lots of fun travels in 2012.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Amazing pics & a wealth of info. Will serve as an excellent tourist guide.

    ReplyDelete
  29. now I can only say I envy you and I am still to send the books to you

    ReplyDelete
  30. It's good to come across people who have visited Odisha and have written about their travels considering Odisha lies in the itinerary of very few travellers. Good that you enjoyed the trip :)

    ReplyDelete
  31. This information is really nice. This type of post is attracting people to read. Thank you for sharing................

    Orissa Tour

    ReplyDelete