India Guide
Orissa
Despite being one of India's poorest regions, ORISSA boasts a distinctive and rich cultural heritage. The coastal plains claim the highest concentration of historical and religious monuments. Puri, site of the famous Jagannath temple and the spectacular Rath Yatra, combines the intensity of a Hindu pilgrimage centre with the pleasures of the beach. Konark, up the coast, has the ruins of Orissa's most ambitious medieval temple, its surfaces writhing with exquisitely preserved sculpture, including eyebrow-raising erotica. The ancient rock-cut caves and ornate sandstone temples of Bhubaneswar hark back when it ruled a kingdom stretching from the Ganges delta to the River Godavari.
Away from the central "golden triangle" of sights, foreign travellers are few and far between, though you'll see plenty of Bengalis travelling in family groups throughout coastal Orissa. Visitors to these outlying districts, with their minimal infrastructure and overtaxed public transport, tend to have a specialist interest, such as bird or animal life, temples or tribal culture. The Similipal National Park, deep in the sal forests of the far northeast, boasts some spectacular scenery, as well as tigers, elephants and hundreds of other species of animals, birds and reptiles.
Almost a quarter of the population are adivasi, or "tribal" (literally "first") people, thought to have descended from the area's pre-Aryan aboriginal inhabitants. In the more inaccessible corners many groups retain unique cultural traditions and languages. In Puri you'll come across signboards advertising "tribal tours" for top dollars, few of which ever trickle down to the adivasi villagers themselves.
Getting around presents few practical problems if you stick to the more populated coastal areas. National Highway 5 and the Southeast Railway, which cut in tandem down the coastal plain via Bhubaneswar, are the main arteries of the region. A metre-gauge branch line also runs as far as Puri, connecting it by frequent, direct express trains to Delhi, Kolkata (Calcutta) and Chennai. Elsewhere, buses are the best way to travel. Regular government and ever-expanding private services (which tend to be faster and more comfortable) cover all the main routes and most of the more remote stretches.
Highlights
1 Bhubaneswar Hidden in the city's suburbs are five hundred or so temples, with unique architecture and elaborate sculptures.
2 Similipal National Park Tigers, leopards and elephants among the sylvan splendour of the Megasani Hills.
3 Puri Pilgrims flock to the vast temple devoted to Lord Jagannath, particularly during the frenetic midsummer Car Festival.
4 Konark An elegant thirteenth-century Hindu temple sitting astride a huge stone chariot.