A Short Trip to Cuttack and Bhubaneshwar

Tripoto
20th Apr 2016
Photo of A Short Trip to Cuttack and Bhubaneshwar 1/20 by Lipika's World
Cuttack Railway station
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Barabati Fort
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Entrance of the Fort
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Ramnants of the Fort
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Ramnants
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The other side
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The hanging bridge of Dhaleswar
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Mahanadi River from the bridge
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Mahanadi river in drought
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The Raja Rani temple
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Front view
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Inside
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Khandagiri Cave
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Carvings on the walls of the caves
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Udayagiri Cave
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The Jain Temple
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The Hanumans of the caves
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Preserved books of the caves
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Dhauligiri Shanti Stupa
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Ashoka Rock

We Started the trip on 20th April of 2016 by the train Sri Jagannath Express at 19.00 pm from Howrah Stn. Though the train was bit late but we reached Cuttack on 21st of April of 2016 at around 4.00 am and went to the hotel we booked earlier and went off to sleep. As it was official tour so after finishing the official work by noon we went out to roam. We finished the lunch in the hotel itself. The first thing which we saw was that, the main river named Mahanadi was almost dried out due to the drought. We walked a bit in the river bed to see the water which was on the other side. Then we went to Dhaleswar temple which is in a small island like place on the bank of Mahanadi. There is a hanging bridge like Lakshman Jhula in Haridwar but smaller. It is a nice place where u can sit on the banks of the river, visit the temple and if water is there u can go for boating also. On the other side of the river there r big trees where u can sit and enjoy the nature. The temp was high and we didnt ve much time so we could not be there for long. We had to return from that place and went to visit the Netaji Subhash Museum and Meritime Museum but it was past 5 o'clock thats why we could not visit which was a bit disappointing. Then we went to the other destination called Barabati Fort. That Fort is very old but its entrance is beautiful and to see the ramnants u ve to go bit inside from the gate. The main remnants where u can go through stairs looks sort of pyramid to me. On the front side a dargah is there and on the back side there is a mosque so many people used to come here to sit and relax. The site is very clean with many trees and plants. Overall its a nice place to be. In front of the Barabati gate there is a big open space where every year Baishakhi Mela is celebrated. For that day we were done coz the sun was on its way down and we were tired like hell so we decided to retun to the hotel and made a plan for the next day to visit Bhubaneshwar.

On 22nd April of 2016 we started our journey towards Bhubaneswar at around 9.30 am. It took 30-45 mins to reach Bhubaneshwar and after reaching there we at first went to Raja Rani Temple. Its an archaeological site and no deity was there but the place is maintained nicely with flower gardens and sitting arrangements in front of the temple under the trees. The temple is around 1000 yrs old and made of stone and bricks. In Orissa everywhere u ll notice the temples r beautifully designed and maintained and very colorful. Their designs r also more or less of the same pattern and very old. Then we went to the main temple of Bhubaneswar from which the place got its name, The Lingaraj Temple. The temle is 1100 yrs old and made by four generations of kings. This is the only temple where Lord Vishnu and Lord Mahadev reside together. The diety is not man made rather it came out of the ground on its own and so the name Bhubaneswar was given to city. Here during puja Bilva leaf and Holy Basil leaf is used together and 56 items of Bhog used to cook everyday for Lord Vishnu and Abhishek is done of Lord Shiva. This temple is bigger than Puri Jagannath Temple in height. This temple's height is 127 ft whereas Sri Jagannath Temple's height is 120 ft. The main festival is Shivaratri but along with this other festivals r also equally observed. After offering puja we started for Khandagiri and Udayagiri cave which is 2200 years old and 8 km away from Bhubaneswar. Both the caves are side by side so u can start from any cave. There are Hanumans in the place and u can offer food to them. Usually they dont disturb anyone but if u go after them then they ll take u for a ride. There r various caves for different uses like for meditation, sleep, studies, kitchen etc. Many sides of the caves ve been destroyed many times but various things r there to see. Carvings r there on the walls and hidden tunnels r there. If u can or want u can go to the topmost point of the caves where it is a view point. From this place u can see the whole city and by its side a forest is there. in the cave where it was a Gurukul/used for teachings, Pali language is seen on the walls. In the caves every year in the month of February Kumbh Mela is held for 10 days when many saints come from various places. There is a Jain Temple by Khandagiri caves which is also very beautiful. The old books from the caves which could be preserved r kept in a small temple in the compound. After all these we went to Dhaulagiri Shanti Stupa. That place is also very calm and breathtaking. U can sit and enjoy nature. It was the last point of our journey and while returning on roadside we visited the Ashoka Rock and went back to hotel.