The abode of Lord Jagannath , the famous Rathyarta of Orissa and the Sea beach at Puri always beckons you to travel from any place of the world.
The Sun was up, the day was clear. Rain clouds were thundering at a corner of the horizon threatening to pour.
Day 1: We stepped up the train from Howrah, an 8 hour journey to the Land of Lord Jagannath. Reached the station by 2:00 PM. Took an auto rickshaw and went Hotel Hopping. After checking Hotels like Deep, Sea Hawk, Sagarpriya etc. we settled for Hotel Sea Gull. Neat and clean rooms and bathroom.
We freshened up and had our lunch at the hotel. Rested. and Evening went out to the sea. It was quite pleasant as it had rained in the afternoon. Beaches are all the same everywhere so it was not a wonder for us, except that the sand here is very sticky and the banks have an inclination downwards where the sea waves crashes. It is said that the sea in Puri is quite furious and it was in high tide too. It can be scary for people who are not used to sea waves.
A person over there was making a form out of the sand and collecting Rs 10.00 for everyone who wanted to click the pic. Spending some time near the beach we went towards the vendors on the beach, just to see what they have.
Suddenly we heard the chants of the mantras. It was nearly 7:30PM Going forward the chants became louder and louder and we found people were gathered together and trying to see something. We too pushed ourselves in to watch. About 7-8 purohits in white dhoti were standing together and praying to the sea. There were big torch lights and a a hawan was going on. Big Round bells were hanging. The place was separated with ropes tied with iron rods stuffed into the beach. Everyone was standing there and watching the prayers. In the serene night with the sea roaring, the chants seems ethereal and spiritual. I had clicked a lot of pictures and videos which I will upload in youtube (if it lets me ;) )
We retired early as we had lots of plan for tomorrow.
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| The lonely beach at Night |
Day 2: Early mornings on the sea are always very beautiful. With an overcast sky the sun was peeping out of the clouds and spreading a pink and blue hue every where.
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| Early Morning |
Today we had a plan to visit nearly all the tourist places. Strating with Jagannath Mandir, Nandankanan wild life sanctury, Udaygiri Khandagiri Mountained, then the Lingraj temple, Konark temple and Chandrabhaga.
Our days started at 5:00AM. We had asked the Hotel to arrange a purohit/panda who wouldtake us to the temple, and the time was arranged at 6:00AM sharp.
We left the hotel in an Auto who charged Rs 50.00 to take to the temple. Photography is not allowed in the premises.
Lord Jagannath is a form of Lord Vishnu and stays here with his siblings. The idol is made of wood which is recreated every 12 years.
The panda gave us a tour of the temple, showed us the mud pots in which the Bhog is prepared for the Lords. These earthen pots are never resued and every day new pots are used. He also showed us dismantled Rath/Chariot on which the Lord and his brother Balabhadra and Sister Subhadra had visited their Aunt's home in June.
The famous Rath Yatra . There were some new constructions of a giant swing for the Gods as Janmashtami was approaching in August. The festival for the birth of Lord Krishna.
There is a folklore that when the Lord started residing here, he was so much upset with the noise of the sea, he could not sleep and so Lord Hanuman stood at the gate to absorb all the sound of the sea in his own ears and thus when one enters the temple premises the grumbling of the sea cannot be heard.
The panda took us to the Mukhya Dwar of the temple and arrange for the Bhog to be offered to the Lord from the Temple Charity. There was a huge rush on the steps of the temple's Mukhya Dwar i.e the door of the main temple, which would open after the Lord would wake up and then attend His devotees.
As per belief, last night was Amavasya i.e New Moon, so the Lord had slept late at 1:00 AM and thus was taking time in getting up and it was already 7:00 PM by that time.
On any other normal day, the Lord would start attending the devotees as early as 4:00 A.M.
All the Big Shot Pandas/Purohits of the temple were standing first at the gate. A few of them would come and go, i.e they were attending to the Lord and his sibling's early morning needs and dressing them up for the Morning Assembly. Till the time the pandas were getting the Lord ready the crowd outside was gathering into a mass and as the gates opened by 7:30 AM the crowd tumbled IN as if there was a war on the gates and everyone was trying to go in first.
Why this rush ???? These particular devotees wanted to stand in the first row to see the morning Aarti of the Lord. The more nearer you stand the better view you get. Phew!! What an effort.
So, we entered the temple too a little after the actual crowd had barged in and paid homage to Lord Jagannath. The main attraction the day was the Head band of the Lords. The Emerald, and Ruby head band was breathtaking.
We returned from the temple by 8:15 AM and had our breakfast at the hotel.
Our next plan : Tourist places. We had booked a car through the hotel travel agent and left the hotel by 9:00 AM
Nandankanan Wild life sanctuary is totally in the opposite side of Puri, crossing Bhubaneshwar in between. There we took our tickets and a Guide and were ready to explore the place.
First and foremost we were greeted by the Elephants. There was a year old kid in between them who was full of baby Fur
Then was the Chimp and the Baboon. Our guide was the best as far as I could know. He knows each and every animal by their names and each one responded to his calls. The Baboon showed his tounge to us when asked for. The Guide told us that the Baboon was very sad because he does'nt have any partner at his side and mostly faces away from the crowd.
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| The Chimp |
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| The Baboon |
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| The Safari Bus |
I had clicked lots of pics of the Animals and these are just a few of them. Then we took a bus for the Lion Safari. They charge extra 150.00 rs per head for this and when you have the Guide with you, you have to pay for him too. The bus took us for a White Tiger Safari, The Lion Safari. The Bear Safari and The Deer safari. I had clipped videos too (which got damaged due tosome error in the SD card )
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| The Lion Sheru |
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| The Lioness - Sheela |
We had a good time watching for the Tigers and the Lions. We also saw peacocks everywhere inside the Safari area. Having spent a good time there, we rode away towards Udaygir and Khadagiri Caves.
I had visited these caves nearly 17 Years back. The originality of the caves are lost with railing and garden which has come up and it has more or less become a picnic spot with the Govt. trying to restore the caves by pushing in granite stones so the caves may not fall away. Although the attempt of the Govt. is commendable yet the essence is somehow lost.
17years back there was no ticket counter, there were no premises.
The caves used to stand alone on the old rocks without any metaled road to around it.
The ancient beauty is lost in time.
From there we went towards the Bodhi stupa. The Stupa from far far away looks like a Observatory with the shape of DISC on top. The sky was overcast but sometime the clouds would clear and give a beautiful view of the white stupa with a bright blue background.
From there we moved on to Lingraj temple. Photography is not allowed here and so we had kept our belongings and camera in the car and went to the temple to pay our homages. It is very sad to see that where the Govt. is trying to restore all its ancient history the area around these places are in a mess.
It was afternoon and we had our lunch on the way in a small restaurant. The clouds and sun was playing hide-n-seek with us and now it had started raining. After completing lunch we rode towards Konark - The Sun temple.
The parking of the car was quite far and you have to walk nearly 500m before you reach the entrance gate. From here starts the shops where you can buy some gift items for home or loved ones.
(17years back .... we had parked the car near the temple entrance and there were illegal vendors mushroomed up everywhere. No doubt things have changed a lot.)
No doubt it is the Sun God's temple. As we reached the premises the SUN GOD had come up with full force scorching and blinding us with its superior rays as if telling us -
"This is my reign and I have full power on you here"
We booked a Guide here too. Though the Govt. paid guides fee is Rs 180.00, this particular fellow convinced us to pay him Rs 250.00 . Beware of such fellows, though the person seemed Ok with his Big Mustache and clicked lots of pics of us together.
The Konark temple is also under restoration and everywhere you will find iron rods around the temple to keep it intact.
The Guide told us that the Temple is made for Three Stages of Life. Childhood, Youth and Old Age.
As you look at the lower level of the temple, you will find more animal related pictures for the entertainment of the kids or the Child.
The Middle level is the Youth and is full of idols and carvings depicting Love and Kama or (Sex). This level also have sculptures of Men and Women going through the daily chores of Life and teaches about the way of Living.
The Upper level of the Temple is for the Old people, who most of the time spend their time praying and Looking up one will find the sculptures depicting the Gods and Goddesses.
He also showed us the use of the Chakras of the Chariot and How to read the exact time from it.
Each Big Spoke of the wheel denotes every 3 hours and the thinner spokes have beads on them, which denote the minutes. As the Sun moves from East to West, the light falls on these Chakras from front of the Chariot to the Back and thus one is able to find out the exact Hour and exact Minute.
Returning from the Konark we went to Chandrabhaga Beach. The sea is a beautiful blue here, the exact color of the sky. The Chandrabhaga Light house is 1km from the beach and closes down by 5:30 PM for the tourist. It was exact 5:30 PM at the time and so we took a chance to visit it.
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| Chandrabhaga Light House |
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| View from top of the Light House |
It was 9:00 PM by the time we reached the hotel tired and hungry.
Plan for Next day???
No plan at all. As we had planned to leave the day after, tomorrow we will just laze around at the sea bach. Eat at .............. do some light shopping and retire for the Night.
Day 3: When Tragedy Struck
We got up late this morning and after breakfast ventured out towards the sea. The tides were quite big compared to Digha and so we kept our distance, away from the sea and sat down on the beach. One Big wave hit washing us from head to toe and my slippers went flying and floating into the sea. After a search for a minute or two I found one of slippers being returned back by the sea and the other one 50 meters behind me in a pool of sea water. When did it go there ??
Anyways I collected my slippers and this time sat further away so that the sea water will not be able to drown me.
There was a lot of rush and people were bathing, jumping, shrieking into the sea water. Though we were a bit pensive, we thought of walking a few steps towards the sea so that the last waves would come upto our shins only.
And then A BiG WAVE CAME. I turned away from the sea so that the sprays does not enter my eyes. Another big wave and another and I felt a searing pain near my knee. I could someone's head ramming at my shin bone twisting it with full pressure. There was no way I could move away with all the water and waves trying to throw me down for the few seconds and then in the next moment pulling me towards the sea with equal force. My leg twisted and the next thing I knew was I was sitting on the beach unconscious for few microseconds and another smaller wave splashing me to consciousness.
I was confused and drained. My husband was still holding my hand and I tried getting up. No. My Leg twisted like rubber and was shaking badly. I was not able to get up.
To avoid any more big waves, which if came again, would surely drown me I dragged myself away from the shooting range of the sea.
I tried getting up again. This time my leg twisted with pain and I fell back on the sand. I was scared. I was not able to move. I was not able to get up.
Funnily, the photographers on the beach could not understand what I was upto and were busy asking me if I wanted some pictures taken. Silly!!
Now I was really scared and suddenly from somewhere the boys who act as coast guard came and a boatman, picked me up and managed somehow to take me to the hotel room. The Hotel called for a doctor and he put me on pain killers, crepe bandage and ice packs. According to him I had a ligament injury. Then I came to know that my husband too was hit by the same wave, by the same person and even his knee was hurt and injured and so we both were stuck up in the hotel for another two days, ending and extending our tragic holiday.
The Funniest incident happened the day after I broke my leg. The hotel house keeper who was serving us for the past three days and checking on me regularly after I broke my leg said very seriously
"Amar duty ses hoy geche. Freezer e borof rekhechi. Bikele je boy thakbe take bolben "Bhogowan borof rekhe geche seta diye jete"" (My duty is over. I have kept ice in the freezer. Tell the boy who will come in the evening "Bhogowan" has kept ice in the freezer and to give it.)
"Bhogowan ["GOD"] broke my Leg; and now Bhogowana ["God"] has kept Ice in the Freezer for me to Heal"
I burst out laughing after he left the room.
P.S : We managed to get a certificate from the Hotel doctor to board the flight from Bhubaneshwar to Kolkata.
After a week we came to know that my shin bone (Tibia) had got fractured by the impact.
Hubby had some ligament injury but not anything massive. He was recommended physiotherapy and I was put on braces and crutches, practically immobile and the rest is History ..................
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| The sea waves crossing all borders and coming up on the elevated level of the Beach |
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| The waves crashing |
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| The Tired Camel |
A small nest away from the city , recommended as a breather from the day to day life of the city.
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