Odisha! The best kept secret. Tourist places of Odisha....Adventure activities, Exploration, Foods and Everything...

                                      
                          Diversity is the one word to describe India and this is also applicable for the Indian states. Each state of India has its own unique landscapes, unique culture, unique language and even people are of different kind in different regions of India. To travel our whole country we need to know about all of these states and regions. Because it is not only important for stress free journey, but also inspire us to explore more and more. So I will introduce you guys to the states of India and every unique things about them one by one (one state one blog) which will help you to explore more.

                      So readers, Let us start with my own state Odisha. Once an underrated state, Now becomes among the top tier states. Also it's among the unexplored states and that means it can give you more enthusiastic feel. And this is one of the most flexible places to travel, so that you can travel in any season any month of an year. No matter which kind of enthuse you have, whether you are a nature lover or temple lover or beach lover or mountain lover or ancient history lover or anything else, you will find places of your type to make your travel memorable. By that means I just categorized tourist places of Odisha and following are those.

Beaches : Odisha is a state connected to Bay of Bengal at the east coasts and have a coastal length of 438 Km and more than a dozen number of beaches. So If you are a Beach guy then you will gonna to love it any way. Starting from the famous and most popular Golden beach of Puri. It is the most crowded beach of Odisha. The world famous Jagganath temple of Puri is just a few Km away from this beach and so is the reason for crowd. Puri is also famous for its coastal line marine drive also with coconut and ca-saurian plant forests both side of the road. Gopalpur and Balasore beach are also famous beaches of Odisha with both having unique characteristics. Also there are many small and unexplored beaches to visit for a peaceful beach walk like Chandrabhga, Astharanga, Rushikulya, Gahirmatha Etc.


                        Gopalpur Beach of Ganjam, Odisha

Waterfalls : Khandadhar, Sana ghagra, Bada ghagra, Khasada, Gandahatti, Duduma, Barehipani and many more beautyful waterfalls are there in Odisha. Most of them are in middle Odisha mostly in Keonjhar district. So that they are easy to travel and the natural beauty around them are more pleasant than the waterfall itself. The Joranda and the Barehipani waterfalls are inside the Similipal national park, so you can enjoy the wildlife with the waterfall. Although I won't recommend you for a waterfall shower, but if you are a little bit adventurous and experienced then Ghagra twins of Keonjhar and Gandahatti of Gajapatti district are the best for you. Rainy season is the best season to explore these beautiful waterfalls of Odisha. I will briefly tell you about these waterfalls in another blog. 
                                     Gandahatti waterfall of Gajapatti district.

Lakes and Dams : India is the land of rivers and lakes and so is Odisha also. Odisha also has many lakes and rivers but the one which is most famous is The Chilika Lake, Asia's largest saline water lake with a large area of 1165 km^2. Come here in winter and you will never forgot about the trip. Birds around the globe come here every year in winter and with adding to that the water travel on motor boats, Dolphins, water sports, The Kalijai island and temple and the Chilika famous prawn fries and other tasty sea foods. Then their is also many other lakes like Anshupa lake of cuttuck, Tampara lake of Ganjam, Kanjia lake of Nandankanan. Also the Dams and reservoirs are great places to be in the Rainy seasons and Odisha has a large number of water reservoirs. Hirakud, world's longest dam with over 23 km long is the best of them all. Adding to that Balimela reservoir,Kolab reservoir,Rengali dam,Deras dam, Hadaghara dam are great to visit in rainy season. The best thing about the above places are that they are located in between very beautiful forest ranges and if you are driving to those places with your bike or car, you will really feel more enthusiastic on those twisties and turns of the roads.


                             Chilika lake and bird sanctuary, Odisha

                                       Hirakud dam Drone view, Hirakud, Sambalpur.

Wild life sanctuaries and National parks : Odisha is home to a variety of flora and fauna.  The host of wildlife sanctuaries in Odisha is evidence to it. It also has many distinctly unique features; it has the largest  turtle sanctuary of the country as well as it has the only lagoon housing bird sanctuary. Odisha is a state that is much blessed by Mother Nature, and it is one of the most pristine states of India. That means Odisha blessed with some of India's best wildlife sanctuaries. Some of the famous wild life sanctuaries of Odisha are Bhitarkanika mangrooves and crocodile reserve, Similipal national park and tiger reserve, Chilika Nalbana Birds sanctuary, Chandaka dampara Elephant reserve, Gahirmatha marine sancturary and Olive ridley turtle nest. You can enjoy the water ways on boats at Bhitarkanika mangrooves and also those waterways connected to Gahirmatha. If you want to explore the forest then Similipal is a great place to visit with the Barehipani waterfall inside the forest and also the Hadgarh dam and wildlife sanctuary is very close to it. Chilika sanctuary can give you the peace of a lagoon with the waterways, seafood, migrated birds and satpada Dolphins and also you can stay at beautiful ressorts here. If want to enjoy a nature camp with camp fire just go to the Satkoshia Tikarpada wildlife sanctuary. Some other places are Debrigarh wildlife sanctuary, Ushakothi sanctuary, Balimela sanctuary, Konark-Balukhanda sanctuary, Nandankanan Zoo and wildlife sanctuary, Kalrapat sanctuary etc.

                            Satkoshia Nature camping area, Tikarpada, Angul.
Ancient and Holly places : From one fact you can Imagine how much holly places are there in Odisha That capital Bhubaneswar itself means the city of temples. There are uncountable ancient and holly places are there so just to clarify things, I am taking the names of few popular and famous places of them. Firstly the Tritiya Dham Shriskhetra Puri. That is also one of many names of this place, The home of Prime God of Odisha Shri Jagganath Mahaprabhu. The Black pagoda Sun tample of Konark, Lord Lingaraj temple Bhubaneswar, Sakhigopal tample, Biraja tample, Ghatagaon Tarini temple, Aradi Akhandalamani Shiva temple and many more. Not only temples Odisha also have many beautyful Mosques, Churches and Monastries to visit. The Hill top Monastry of Jeerango, near to khasada waterfal is a great place to explore.I will wrote another blog on them.   Talking about ancient places some of the famous places are Khandagiri caves, Udaygiri caves, Ratnagiri and Lalitgiri caves, Dhauligiri, Rajkanika kings palace, Paralakhemundi palace, Debgarh, Cuttuck Barabati fort etc.

                                  Jeerango monastry, Chandragiri, Gajapatti.

Activities and others : While traveling you also can make some fun activities, adventure activities or just visit some more interesting places also. Nature camping, Trekking on mountains, Water sporting at beaches, Rope way ridding etc. Also you can enjoy hill top gardens, coffee and cocoa farms, amusement parks, boating at lakes, Beach festivals and many more. And adding to that you can enjoy your travelling by yourself adventures also. Taking grate portraits, meeting with local peoples and anything else you want to do(Legal only). Also don't forgot to taste some grate local foods. Below is a list of some amazing foods you can taste here.

                                    Deomali hill top, Peak of Odisha, Koraput.
Street Foods : When in Odisha, try out some authentic, affordable, and Odia snacks. Dahibara alu dum, Ghuguni, Papdi chat, Thunka puri, Gup chup(Pani puri), Chakuli pitha, Barmazza are some typical Odia snacks that are found all year. You can easily buy them at popular street vendors and small shops. Adding to that there are some sweet and delicious Odia desserts like, Chhena poda, Rasabali, Pahala Rasagola, Malpua and also a special type of dessert called Pithas having Podda pitha, Arisha pitha and Manda pitha in the menu. The Matti handi mutton curry, Machha Patra poda are some delight Odia recipes you can tryout here. If you are planning to visit to beaches (Other than Puri) and Chilika lake don't forgot to taste the sea foods mainly Prawn stick roast or fry. Also if you are going to Puri Jagganath temple then never forgot to taste Abadha of ananda bazzar, inside the temple. You also can find famous foods of Every corner of India here, So that if you want you can eat whatever you want, Like Biriyani. 

                                               Odisha special Chhena Poda

Transportation : Odisha have one International and one domestic Airports, The Biju patnaik International airport, Bhubaneswar, and the Jharsuguda airport. However Bhubaneswar is the capital so It's connected with many major tourist destinations of Odisha via trains or buses. Also every district of Odisha are connected via trains. Some main railway stations of Odisha are Bhubaneswar(BBS), Cuttuck(CTC), Puri(PURI), Berhampur(BAM), Sambalpur(SBP), Bhadrak(BHC), Angul(ANGL), Jajpur Keonjhar road(JJKR), Balashore(BLS), Balangir(BLGR) Etc. Most of the Picnic Spot are nearer to these railway stations, you can chose the nearest one of your destination. There is an ISBT(Interstate bus terminal) at Bermunda, Bhubaneswar. Also all type of basic and extra facilities are available there at the bus and railway terminals.

        Before wrap up, one thing I will suggest, that don't stop just reading all these blogs. Actual travel experience is more better, beautiful, exciting, and peaceful than just reading about those places, so pack your bag and go out on your journey(After this world pandemic situation) You can also comment me about your journey also. I will come with another blog on another state, till then ...........Stay home, Stay safe.