September 26, Thursday
Travel Summary:
It is possible to do a lot of things in a day. However, you must be well prepared. The travel company that we bought our trip from did a good job, but it could have been well proportioned as to the duration we would spend at each place. We left Bengaluru in the early hours of 26th September 2019 and flew to Biju Patnaik International Airport. From there we visited several places of interest: Shri Linga Raj Temple, Dhauli Shanti Stupa, Pipul hotel & resort, Chilika Lake boat ride, Shri Jagannath Temple, and back to the Pupil Hotel and resort. Looking back, we spent an inordinately long time on the boat ride which was not productive and spent too little time in the temples.
Arriving at Biju Patnaik International
Airport
We took the earliest InDiGo on Sept 26, 2019, to Bhubaneshwar. The airport in Bengaluru was crowded and impossible to move. Since all four of us were senior citizens, people did make it easy for us to move to the security gates fast. There I remember there was some security-related delay. My wife had to leave her wristwatch and umbrella to be picked up later. As the flights were announced we were in a hurry and moved away from the security. However, we remembered that the wristwatch was left behind. We were able to recover it as the security was quite efficient given the rush at the airport and the chaos that is common at Indian airports.
The flight time is about 2 hrs. We were at Biju Patnaik International Airport around 7 a.m. Our guide/driver met us at the airport promptly. He was a garrulous young guy who could understand a bit of English but spoke mostly in Hindi. I could make out what he was saying but my sister (Usha) really understood and replied. It looked like the weather was going to be fine, but it started raining heavily.
Visit Shri Lingaraja Temple
It was raining like cats and dogs when we reached the Lingaraja Temple complex after a break at one of the wayside restaurants for coffee and some snack. It has been built starting from 610 C.E and is one of the oldest in Bhubaneshwar. Unfortunately, the experience was anything but pleasant. The driver had stopped our car in an open, unpaved enclosure right in the middle of a pool of rainwater. We were met by a Panda guide. Panda is not to be confused with the furry animal from China. They are Pandits (I suspect the origin of this name Panda) who have deep knowledge of religious matters, Gods, and temples. He was a government guide which means he has been cleared by the government organization that oversees such matters. He was good and he was to guide us through the temple formalities. As my wife was a foreigner, she was not allowed to enter the temple and she agreed to wait outside under an awning in one of the shops. She later told me that it was quite an extraordinary experience by being gawked at by so many people who did not pretend to look away. We zipped through the temple with my wife standing in torrential rain outside. I confess I could not bring up enough of the religious piety demanded by such a great opportunity to visit this famous temple. When we left the temple, I felt greatly relieved to find my wife still where I left her. I have not taken any photos and the next picture is from Wikipedia. It is a pity that we could not stay here longer to see the true beauty of the temple and its architecture.
Lingaraja Temple from Wikipedia
Visit Dhauli Shanti Stupa
Leaving Lingaraja temple we drove south to visit the famous Dhauli Shanti Stupa standing atop the Dhaulagiri (Dhaul hills). This is where the battle of Kalinga was supposed to have taken place. After this battle, being not able to stomach the carnage king Ashoka turned to Buddhism. This is a memorial sponsored by a Japanese Buddhist organization. There are rock edicts of Ashoka which are worth seeing. Shanti stupa is a beautiful piece of architecture with its five umbrellas representing the essence of Buddhism (abstain from killing living beings, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and intoxication). It was still raining off and on now. I decided to climb up a couple of steps with my friend and it was worth it. We stayed there at Shanti Stupa for 10 to 20 minutes.
Checking in to the hotel
Next, our driver decided to take us to the hotel where we were going to stay for the first two nights in Puri. Pipul hotel and resort was further south near the sea. It turned out to be a good place to stay. It was clean and well-maintained. The room service was so, so. It took a long time for the housekeeping in bringing towels and toilet paper. It appears they were preparing for a big group arriving in the next few days. They have a well-developed nice ground with lots of trees, a swimming pool, deck chairs, etc. The view of the city from our room was fantastic. As we arrived in time for breakfast, and we had our breakfast there. It was excellent and great to find South Indian breakfast in Odisha. The breakfast room staff were very good and friendly although they spoke mostly Odia. We could get along with broken Hindi.
View of the hotel courtyard and swimming pool from the bedroom
Boat ride on
Next on our list was to take a boat ride on Chilika lake to see the Irrawaddy dolphins. It is not near and takes over 3 hours further west from where we were. We reached around lunchtime. The boating center is well-equipped with safety jackets for tourists. It turned out to be an expensive and uncomfortable ride. You need to buy the tickets to get on to the boats. The boats seat anywhere from 6 to 8. However, as we were in a group, we had the whole boat to ourselves. It probably was a lean season as well. The boatswain did not speak Hindi but could understand. I remember that the boat ride was too long, and we saw a whole lot of crows come and ride with us. It reminded me of Hitchcock’s movie, the Birds. We finally arrived at the location where dolphins were to be normally found. There were other boats with visitors milling around to get a glimpse of the dolphins. I could not see any dolphins, but some did.
Our garrulous guide collecting tickets
The scammers of Chilika lake
The one thing that left me with a strong impression during this boat ride was the crafty scammers who prey on the tourists. Typically, the boat is navigated to another point along the shore where the scammer would show up, and he will demonstrate a few things like the red crab native to the lake and the oysters. He will convince the tourist that although rare they do find pearls sometimes in the oysters. He usually comes with a basket full of oysters and starts shucking the oysters. Lo and behold, he shows an oyster with a pearl and lets the tourist take a look by taking it in their palm. It looks like a real pearl and then he offers to sell it for a nominal price. Tourists do negotiate a bit and eventually, the pearl is sold to the gullible tourist.
It gets even better when he mentions in passing, in addition to pearls they do find a few other things like opal as well. He then opens an oyster to display an opal (Highly polished and glittering reflecting rainbow colors) and he offers to sell saying it is indeed very rare to find and that we are just lucky to be the one to witness. He strikes another deal, and the haggling does on, and the deal is struck. He and his group are really exceptionally good with such honest-looking faces and childlike qualities. Later, on our trip, we found that hawkers were selling the pearls and other oyster-origin jewels in little sachets near the temple for next to nothing.
The location where the river meets the ocean
The boat
Lunch near the lake
After the boat ride, we tried to eat at the only restaurant nearby. It had no visible signs of a restaurant but just a tile-faced house with two or three rooms and a kitchen. They had mostly fish, they said. Only some ate the fish, which was bony, awfully expensive, and badly cooked. The surroundings of the restaurant were filthy with all construction materials thrown around. They had no coffee.
Visit Shri Jagannath Temple
We left soon and drove to the Shri Jagannath temple. It was not too far from the place we were going to stay.
It was getting late in the day and city traffic was horrendous. The Jagannath temple attracts many, many pilgrims from all over India and even from foreign countries.
The crowd that gathers during the famous ‘car festival’ event that takes place once in twelve years is so large that it has entered the English language as ‘Juggernaut’. Even on a normal day, the crowd is enormous.
There was a long queue of devotees trying to enter the temple. We got hold of a Panda to guide us through as we did not speak Odia. Again, the Panda told us that foreigners were not allowed to enter the temple. But he did help us including my wife to pray from outside the temple.
As my wife could not enter because of temple regulations, I had to ask my wife to wait outside, but near the entrance. She obliged as she wanted me to have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Only my sister, her husband, and I entered the temple. The architecture local to this region is more beautiful than I can describe. I wished I could spend a whole morning here. There were places inside where taking photos was prohibited. We arranged to make special prayers which usually involve telling our gotras (our bloodline from the Rishis) and our birth stars to the priest(s) who then begins our prayers. He is the go-between between us and the Gods. We collected some prasadams (Sweets, nuts, and dry fruits, in a palm leaf basket) and left the temple. My wife was patiently waiting.
Dinner near the temple
We had dinner in a nearby restaurant of which there are plenty. It is easy to find a vegetarian restaurant. The food was nothing to write about. The hotel we were staying at was not too far from the temple as we could see the temple from our rooms. We returned to the hotel. It was indeed a hectic day with pouring rain, slush, and mud; wet umbrellas and shoes filled with mud and water.
Oh! What a day.
