Unexpectedly, to Odisha....

        This time, the Anniversary tour was totally unplanned, but the vacation of 2 weeks was confirmed in the end moment. The  ill-health of Sreeram's grandmother obviously dragged us to home town Kakinada. Thus the undecided tour started towards the very regular route to Kakinada with a lunch break at Nellore on 17th of October, Saturday. By night 9, we were at home. The next day was almost like a get together of relatives, who came to see Grandmother. The 3rd day, on 19th, we decided to cover few places in Odisha, so that we can come back home to stay few more days with parents.
                          The evening of 19th, we started our journey, my parents accompanying us, and halted at Vizag. On the way, Sreeram took a sudden diversion towards Annavaram, the abode of Lord Satyanarayana swami and the Darshan was fantastic, boosting our spirit for the further, totally new journey.
                 The next morning, the tour continued with darshan of Lord Surya narayana swamy in Arasavalli and Kurma natha swami in Srikurmam. Further details of these two temples will be mentioned in a seperate post about the temples of Andhra Pradesh.
   The next destination was Bhuvaneshwar, welcoming us 4 into Odisha, totally strange land. We were heartfully received by Sreeram's cousin there and were lucky to find such a stay to enjoy the beauty of Odisha for 4 days. They gave us idea of how to plan further,keeping the  base camp as Bhuvaneshwar.
                   The beauty of Devi Navaratri, while entering the city was really stunning. The next day was Durgashtami and Maharnavami combined and our destination for the day was Biraja Devi, one of the 18 Shakthi peethas as mentioned in the Sloka as ''Odhyane Girija Devi''
                                     

                Biraja Devi (as poplar locally) temple is located in Jajpur, 80 KM from Cuttak and 100 KM from Bhuvaneshwar. As per the mythology, Sati's navel fell here, as the other parts of her body derived other Shakthi peethas. This is also popular as Nabhi Gaya. (The other two are, Pithapuram in Andhra pradesh is Pada Gaya and Gaya near Allahabad is Siro Gaya. The three parts of body of the demon Gayasura form these Kshetras)
                   The next day, being Dashahara(Vijaya Dasami), with God's grace, we decided to take darshan of Lord Jagannatha in Puri. The yatra of the day started with the darshan of the gigantic Shivlinga in the Linga raja temple of Bhuvaneswar. The temple is said to host more than 108 Shivlingas. The Goddess here named Bhuvaneshwari devi gives the city its name. It may take few hours to completely cover the temple. The very high gopuram structure itself is a feast for eyes.
                            The darshan of the Lord in Puri really made me speechless. The very huge murthis of Lord Jagannatha, Subhadra and Balabhadra,placed on a high platform are just marvellous. One can do a pradaxina in the main sanctum. The Sthala purana of this temple is quite interesting. The complete details can be found at www.jagannath.nic.in
                 The procession of bringing bhog(Prasadam) to the Lord is said to be grand
 and special.
                                         

                           The next stop was at Konak Sun temple, which is now a heritage monument. The sculptures of the temple are almost in ruined state, but the beauty is worth a visit. As per the discourse of Sri Samavedam Shanmukha Sarma garu (namely Surya Aaradhana), the mention of this kshetra is found in Puranas also, so though there are no idols in this temple now, the power of Sun God is eternally present in this temple. Taking a guide to explain the details of the sculptures is an appreciable act.
                                       

                          On the way back, we went to Pipili where the handmade crafts are very famous.            
 Taking rest for few hours at home after lunch made us energetic enough to visit the very beautifully decorated Devi Idols in Bhuvaneshwar. The decorations and the idols of different pandals were competing with each other. We visited the mandaps of Shaheed nagar, Nayapalli and few other Pandals (as they locally call) of Ma Durga with very beautiful light decoations. The over all view of Bhubaneshwar during Navaratri is a sight as if the whole city is celebrating, with lighting all over and Pandals located hosting very huge idols of Durga mata. The Rama temple in the town is again a beautiful place welcoming us with smiling and lively idols of  the Lord.
                                         

                                     

                   
  The next day, we started our retutn journey with  break at Tara Tarini temple near Barhampur on the way. This is the place, named Purushottampur, where One of the Dasa maha vidyas, Tara devi is receiving puja in two forms on the same peetha namely Tara and Tarini. The temple is located on the top of a hill with a well built road to reach the top. The sight of the surroundings from the top, is very  scenic.
                                   

      Thus our suddenly planned trip to Odisha was proved very fruitful, memorable and heart-filling,especially the season of Dashara attached extra colors to our tour, which made it extremely beautiful. On the way back, we diverted from the high way  to Annavaram to buy Prasadam of Lord Satyanarayana swamy to take home. We stopped exactly opposite to the temple, thanking the Lord for making the trip a grand success. Same time we heard the drums indicating the arrival of Lord in Pallaki from the other side. We conveyed our pranams to the Lord and the pujari told "today being Ekadasi, the lord on the hill comes down for Grama seva. We finished the ritual and now are going up". I was speechless for the grace of the Lord. He initiated our journey and He Himself came down to bless us His darshan again at the end of the tour. This was really the most happiest moment of the tour.
         Last not the least, I wish to mention here some important & useful tips for visitors of Puri as well as Odisha:

• Though Puri hosts the Lord of the Universe, it also hosts many talented thieves. We were informed that the local people wear artificial jewelry during the visit to the temple. Be very careful of your ornaments as well as money. Women need to keep their neck covered with pallu all the time, as they won't even spare the Mangalasutra. 
• The Pandas (Pujari) of almost all the temples are just hopeless. (sorry to be so straight, but helpless). We didn't dare to say even gotra and nama as we were warned that there is no limit for the amount they demand. They literally keep pulling us asking for money. If somebody stops you, tell them that we have come only for darshan and we need nothing else. They don't even give you teertha unless you give them money. It is very difficult to locate the Hundi in the temples, but the hands of Pandas are tightly holding lot of cash.     

                       This is just to alert people, not to make them feel scared.

        The other shrines in the huge complex of Puri temple are of Goddess Vimala devi, Suryanarayana murthy(being shifted here from Konark Temple), Sakhi Gopal, Sridevi and Bhudevi, place where the previous idols' wood is cremated, and many other.

The good news for those planning to visit Odisha is that all the roads are in very good condition. So no worries in that aspect.