Introducing Orissa
Orissa is a captivating state with diverse, vibrant living cultures and an unrivalled architectural legacy. It’s where mighty temple chariots carrying powerful deities are pulled through city streets by a heaving throng of devotees, where serene stone carvings of exceptional beauty continue to be excavated from early Buddhist sites and where Adivasis (tribal people) maintain remarkable traditions that predate many of the great empires of the subcontinent.
Advertisement
Orissa is also celebrated for its natural heritage: elephants and tigers crash and prowl through the Eastern Ghats at Similipal National Park, a key tiger reserve. Chilika Lake, Asia’s largest lagoon, hosts the rare Irrawaddy dolphin as well as millions of migratory birds, including pink flamingos. Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary has dolphins, a surfeit of birdlife and monster crocodiles. In January masses of olive ridley turtles pull themselves up onto Orissa’s long beaches to lay their eggs; two months later, thousands of tiny hatchlings crawl to the sea.
Ancient civilisations and tradition resonate through contemporary Orissa. Witness the grand Sun Temple of Konark, a dream of genius adorned with a storyboard of Orissan life. Modern artistry is no less adept with stone carving, painting, silverwork and textiles in abundance.
Many of Orissa’s attractions are clustered along the coast where weary travellers can also find inexpensive seaside retreats. Inland there’s a different India, where tribes live precariously on the edge of mainstream society, yet manage to retain their colourful, fascinating traditions.
Last updated: Feb 17, 2009
Tips & articles
-
Flamingo-spotting made easy
13 January 2010
The flamingo, with its sunrise plumage and dancer’s moves, is the kind of bird that travellers cross the world to...
In our shop
Bags feeling light?
Coffee table looking bare?
Get your guidebooks, travel goods, even individual chapters, right here.
Advertisement
Orissa
Things to do
- All things to do (59)
- Activities (10)
- Entertainment (3)
- Restaurants (22)
- Shopping (5)
- Sights (19)
- Tours (0)
Make it happen
Our Top Picks For Orissa
-
1 Sun Temple
Exercise the eyes viewing exquisite carvings of the everyday, the exotic and the erotic at the renowned Sun Temple in Konark
-
2 Carved stone temples
Mind your mandirs as you explore the myriad carved stone temples in old Bhubaneswar
-
3 Rath Yatra
Follow Lord Jagannath’s mighty car through Puri in the Rath Yatra, one of India’s most spectacular festivals
-
4 Similipal National Park
Spy on wild elephants and just maybe an elusive tiger in the jungles of Similipal National Park
-
5 Bhitarkanika and Wildlife Sanctuary
Spot rare Irrawaddy dolphins, crocodiles, lizards, flashy kingfishers and herons as your boat chugs through the mangroves of Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary
Fast Facts about Orissa
- Area
155, 707 sq km
- Population
36.7 million
- Capital
- When to go
November to March
- Main language
Oriya