Bhubaneshwar is often called the city of temples . It is impossible to know exactly how many temples there are, but it has been estimated that there might be over 700 temples in the city. This number, while impressive, is just a fraction of the original number, which, sometime in the 13 th century, would have been about 7000. Wikipedia has a page dedicated to the Hindu temples of Bhubaneshwar , where 93 temples are listed. All these are ancient temples, built between the 7 th and 13 th centuries CE. Bhubaneshwar was once known as Ekamra Kshetra , the sacred mango grove. We know this name from an inscription at the Ananta Vasudeva temple, which mentions the name of the place, and the main temple (that we now know as the Lingaraja temple) in the mango grove. Ananta Vasudeva Temple, with a sculpture of Trivikrama in the niche It is extremely interesting to note that the Ananta Vasudeva temple is the only temple to Lord Vishnu in this city. Varaha, Ananta Vasudeva Temple Located v...
The most interesting activities offered by the Poovar Island Resort are the variety of backwater cruises in a fishing boat. The day can begin with an hour long bird watching cruise, followed by a 2 hour island cruise in the evening and the night can be brought in by the sunset cruise. Of course, each of these cruises have their own attractions, but when we were there, it was the wrong season for bird watching (the summer sees very few birds – the best is winter), and clouds had already started arriving, heralding the monsoon and darkening the skies, so the sunset cruise was out too. However, we made the most of the island cruise. Join me in reliving the wonderful experience……….. Seeting off on our journey, with a prayer to the Lord.... A shrine errected on the beach after the Tsunami that wreaked havoc.... Fishing Boats.... And the fishing village.... The sparkling waters.... And the roaring waves dashing against the beach.... Fat, orange, juicy Pineapples - or so w...