Bhubaneswar The word Bhubaneswar means the Lord of the Universe Bhubaneswar replaced Cuttack as the political capital of the state of Orissa in 1948, a year after India gained its independence from British Bhubaneswar and Cuttack are together known as the "twin cities" of Orissa The modern city of Bhubaneswar was designed by the German architect Otto Königsberger in 1946 It is one of the cleanest and planned cities of Modern India, after Chandigarh The city is surrounded by dense canopy of forests, picturesque Chandaka and the Nandankanan; this along with an abundance of in-city greenery and an efficient civic body makes it one of the cleanest and greenest cities of India today Bhubaneswar is often referred to as a Temple City of India Puri, Konark and Bhubaneswar forms the 'Swarna Tribhuja' (the 'Golden Triangle'), one of the most visited destinations in Eastern India History: Bhubaneswar has been known by different names such as Toshali, Kalinga Nagari, Nagar Kalinga, Ekamra Kanan, Ekamra Khetra and Mandira Malini Nagari The place had been the capital of the ancient Kalinga The historical Kalinga war, in which Emperor Ashok (272 236 BC) himself participated, took place here The bloodshed and casualties of the war had made the Emperor to take vow to forego the sword and to win through love and compassion instead Archeological excavations on the opposite side of the Dhouli have unearthed the 2000 years old Sishupalgarh, the capital built by Emperor Kharavela of Chedi dynasty Jajati Kesari, the ruler of Orissa, brought 10,000 Brahmins from Ayodhya to his kingdom and built countless temples in sandstone Out of 7000 temples built between 7th 12th centuries, about 100 temples still exist After the death of King Jajati Kesari, the ganga King Lalat Kesari in the 1000 AD built the world famous Lingaraj temple, the most sacred edifices in 1 / 8
Bhubaneswar today Its proud possession of magnificent sculptures and architectural heritage, coupled with the sanctity as Ekamrakshetra make this one of the great religious centres of Orissa since early medieval days The Hathigumpha inscriptions at the Udayagiri caves and Khandagiri caves by Kharavela give a good account of that period which is estimated as 1st-2nd century BC Later innumerable temples built throughout ancient and medieval history in tune with its status as Temple City give a chronicle of the city's history till Indian independence in 1947 In 1936, Orissa became a separate province in British India with Cuttack as its capital Notably, Cuttack was Orissa's capital since 12th century When India got independence in 1947, Orissa became one of the states of the Indian union But for some reasons, most visibly Cuttack's vulnerability to floods and space constraints, the capital was changed to Bhubaneswar which was built into a modern city The State Museum of Bhubaneswar offers an extensive selection of archaeological artefacts, weapons, local arts and crafts as well as insights into Odisha's natural and tribal history The Tribal Research Institute Museum with its authentic tribal dwellings, created by the tribal craftsmen offers a bird's eye view of the State's tribal heritage Climate: Bhubaneswar is situated between 21 15' North Latitude 85 15' Longitude and at an altitude of 45 meters above sea level Geographically, Bhubaneswar is situated in the eastern coastal plains of Odisha and south-west of the Mahanadi River The city is subdivided into a number of townships and housings The city has a tropical climate, specifically a tropical wet and dry climate The average temperatures range between a minimum of around 10 C in the winter to a maximum of 40 C to 45 C in summer Sudden afternoon thunderstorms are common in April and May The south-west monsoons appear in June The average annual rainfall is 154 cm, most of which is recorded between June and October Transport: 2 / 8
Road The Bhubaneswar main bus station is situated at Barmunda, 8 km from the city centre and Orissa State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) operates a regular fleet of buses connecting Bhubaneshwar to various cities in Orissa like Cuttack, Sambalpur, Berhampur, Jeypore, Rourkela and the neighboring states of Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh National Highways-NH 5, NH 203 passes through Bhubaneswar The city has also local transport services for the daily commuters A fleet of 100 buses for Bhubaneswar and 25 buses for Puri is boon for the city's traffic and tourism They are green coloured having LED Display Boards which show the route followed by them Rail The East Coast Railway has its headquarters in Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar Railway Station (BBS) is one of the main stations on this route It is located in the city center and is connected to major cities of the country such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Jamshedpur, etc by express and passenger trains It has five railway stations within its city limits, namely (from North to South) Patia Halt, Mancheswar, Vani Vihar, Bhubaneswar station (near Master canteen) and Lingaraj Temple Road Air Biju Patnaik Airport also known as Bhubaneswar Airport is currently the only major domestic airport in Orissa It is situated 3 km south of the city There are regular flights to many destinations across India from this airport, like New Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Bangalore Culture & Heritage: Once upon a time Bhubaneswar had over a thousand temples Although a large number of temples have given way for urban infrastructure, Bhubaneswar still abounds in temples of various deities and therefore, it is called Temple City The most famous ones are Lingaraj 3 / 8
Temple, Lakshmanesvara group of temples, Parasuramesvara Temple, Svarnajalesvra Temple, Muktesvara Temple, Rajarani Temple, Vaital Temple, Brhamesvara temple, Meghesvara temple, Vaskaresvara Temple, Ananta Vasudeva Temple, Sari Temple, Kapilesvara Temple, Markandesvara temple, Yamesvara temple, Chitrakarini temple, Sisiresvara Temple The modern temples are Ram Mandir, Maa Kanakdurga Pitha, ISKON, etc The Lingaraj Temple towers above the cityscape and is visible from far Careful conservation has helped save many of these symbols of Oriya culture There has been a recent awareness towards preserving the ethos of Oriya culture in the form of Classical Odissi dance, handicrafts, sand artistry, sculpturing as well as theatre and music Boundary walls and gardens are increasingly being redone to depict the folk art of the region The Ekamra Haat is the popular hand-loom and handicrafts market that was constructed recently to popularise them Similarly, SRJAN, the Odissi dance academy founded by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra the legendary Odissi dancer is located here The Rabindra Mandap in central Bhubaneswar plays host to a number of cultural engagements and it also has a modern amphitheatre to host theatre and private functions At Ratnagiri, Lalitgiri and Udaygiri (on the way to Paradip) Buddhist sites of great historical significance have been excavated The site at Ratnagiri is the most extensive and the carvings and sculpture are highly regarded for their proficiency and artistic merit Khandagiri & Udayagiri (Jain Heritage) Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves are partly natural and partly artificial caves of archaeological, historical and religious importance at 8 KM away from Bhubaneswar The caves are situated on the twin hills of Udayagiri and Khandagiri, mentioned as Kumari Parvat in Hathigumpha inscription and face each other across the road They have a number of finely and ornately carved caves date back to the 2nd century BC It is believed that most of these caves were carved out huge residential blocks for the Jain monks, during the reign of King Kharavela Udayagiri meaning Sunrise Hill, has 18 caves while Khandagiri has 15 caves The caves of Udayagiri and Khandagiri, called leṇa in the inscriptions, were dug out mostly during the reign of Kharavela for the abode of Jaina ascetics The most important of this group 4 / 8
is Ranigumpha in Udayagiri which is a double storeyed monastery Lingaraj Temple: It is a cluster of 108 temples built a hundred years ahead of the Jagannath temple in Puri The deity enshrined here is self-born partly Shiva, partly Vishnu or Tribhubaneswar, the lord of the three realms Heaven, Earth and Subterranean world Though iron has been used in the construction of this finely carved sandstone temple, no wood has been used The surrounding wall is 127 ft high and 75 ft wide The courtyard measures 520ft x 465ft Only Hindus are allowed to enter the temple inside Camera and any leather goods are prohibited However, non-hindus may have a view of the temple from the sort of stone platform on the north wall It was made for Lord Curzon There are 3 entrances to the temple The temples in Orissa basically have the same architectural form and structure: the Biman (garbhagriha/sreemandir where the deity is enshrined), Jagmohan (the covered porch to enter the main temple), Natmandir (the dance room where Devadashis dance to entertain the deity) and Bhogmandap (room where the offerings are made to the deity) The Biman has a crested top Initially, the temple had only the Biman and the Jagmohan During 1090 AD -1104 AD, Narasinha Dev, the builder of Sun temple at Konark made the Natmandir and Bhogmandap as later additions to the Lingaraj Temple It is dedicated to Lord Shiva In the Garvagriha, the Lingamurti (phallic representation) of 25 M dia Is placed on a massive umbrella shaped Saktipith made of granite stone Lingaraj is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas The Lingaraja temple has been rated one of the finest examples of Hindu temples in India by Ferguson, the noted art critic and historian The surface of the 55 m-high Lingaraja temple is covered with carvings Traditions among Hindus exist to visit the Lingaraj Temple before visiting the Jagannath Temple at Puri Dhauli Giri 5 / 8
Dhauli Hill, one of the most visited Buddhist pilgrim destinations in India, is situated at a distance of approximately 8 km from Bhubaneswar The hill represents the place where, after witnessing the carnage of Kalinga War in 261 BC, Emperor Ashoka relinquished war and adopted Buddhism Serving as a proof of this renunciation are the edicts of the Emperor, which have been preserved here Ashoka erected two main edicts in Kalinga, one in Dhauli and the other in Jayagarh It is in these edicts that he had asked his administrators to rule with equality and compassion The principles of Ashoka which reflect his compassion were inscribed on all the other edicts in his empire except Kalinga In the Kalinga edicts he warned the people of Kalinga not to revolt and that he would take appropriate action if they did This is in sharp contrast to all of his other edicts and proof of his political acumen One of the major attractions of the Dhauli Hills is a Shanti Stupa (Peace Pagoda) Situated on the opposite hill, this stupa was built by the Indians, in collaboration with the Japanese It is circular edifice, which is adorned with a mushroom-like dome on top Of the numerous stone panels in the stupa, the main panel is the one that has the reclining Buddha Along with Lord Buddha, it also comprises of His footprints, an elephant procession, the Bodhi Tree, a sleeping beauty, a horse back procession and Emperor Ashoka, relinquishing war by presenting his sword to Lord Buddha Dhauli Hill is also quite famous for the Saddharma Vihar Monastery and a number of rock-cut caves Not to be missed are numerous Hindu temples, which date back to the medieval age Fairs & Festivals On the day of Ashokashtami in the month of March, the image of Lingaraja (Lord Shiva) and 6 / 8
other deities are taken in a procession from Lingaraja Temple to the Rameshwara Temple Hundreds of devotees participate in pulling the chariot that carries the deities The deities remain in the Rameshwara Temple for four days At the end of January comes Adivasi Mela, a fair that displays the art, artifacts, tradition, culture, and music of the tribal inhabitants of Odisha Durga Puja is also an important festival Various pandals are constructed throughout the city The largest pujas are: the Shahid Nagar Durga Puja, the Nayapalli Durga Puja, and the Rasulgarh Durga Puja Laxmi Puja at Laxmisagar near Jharapada is also very famous Hotels in Bhubaneswar Name of the Hotels Tariff range in Indian Rs Contact address/ Phone Nos The tourists may contact the hotels directly at the address indicated above, where the contact details have been provided by the hotels in the above table Alternatively, please contact your travel agent (from the list under "Travel Services" in the main menu) who deals with the concerned hotel or you may contact ArrayTours for booking For details, please log on to wwwarraytourscom or e-mail your queries to info@arraytourscom or phone +91 33 24416978, +91 9433253111 7 / 8
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