Bhubaneswar is the capital city of Orissa and known for its ancient rich heritage. Also known as ' Cathedral City', it is a bustling center for commerce and religious activities. It is famed as the " Temple City of India" because the whole city is dotted with hundreds of temples, which was once boasted of more than 2000 temples. Bhubaneswar first came into limelight way back in fourth century when it was the capital of illustrious kingdom Kalinga. It was the place where Asoka surrendered his arm after a gory Kalinga battle and embraced Buddhism. Asoka erected one of the subcontinent's best preserved rock edicts -still in place 5km south of Dhauli.



New Bhubaneswar is a modern city with all the facilities, modern buildings and extensive infrastructure but still history lingers through its temples and stupas. The new Bhubaneswar is a fine amalgamation of modern and historic city. The numerous temples and shrines are the striking features of the city and most of Bhubaneswar is dominated by fantastic engineering and artistic feats of its ancient heritage. Apart from that Bhubaneswar offers many attractive excursions such as Heritage Site of Udaygiri and Khandagiri caves, Nandankana Wildlife Sanctuary, Dhauli, Atri and many more.

Sights And Activities

Temple Sightseeing
Temples are the biggest draw of Bhubaneswar. Earlier it was gifted with more than 2000 temples but still temples are everywhere. The most famous one is Lingaraj temple that is one of best architectural developments of ancient times. Everyday it receives lots of devotees but unfortunately it is closed to non Hindus. Another temple Raja Rani charges an entrance fee. The temple is surrounded by a manicured garden and famous for its ornate deul(temple sanctuary) and tower. Another temple, Parsurameshwar is just located west of Lewis road, lies a cluster of about 20 smaller but important temples. It is dedicated to Lord Shiva and built around AD 650.

State Museum
The museum houses some of the best preserved patta chitra, an ancient art of writing manuscripts on leaves. This stunning art was an ancient temple art and dealt with secular subjects. The subjects were beautifully drawn on palm leaves. The most famous one is 80 folios of Jayadeva's 12th century Geet Govinda. Apart from manuscripts , the museum preserves wide range of archaeological relics such as statues, antique weaponry and traditional art and crafts, also documents the Orissa tribal history.

Shopping
Bhubaneswar is a shoppers paradise. Orissa has a rich art and crafts heritage. Orissa textile is renowned worldwide. The shops around the temples and the different emporium in the city are truly rewarding experience. One of the famous art is beautiful tarakashi work of silver filigree, it is believed that it was influenced by Indonesia craft heritage. Most of the travelers visit the near by Pipli village near Puri to buy numerous gifting items ranging from handbags to Nandankanan Zoological Park
The rich zoological park is located at the distance of 20km from Bhubaneswar. The park is renowned for white tigers, also a home to number of other wildlife species such as rare Asiatic lions, rhinoceros, reptiles, monkeys and deer. The best part of this zoological garden are the lion and tiger safari. The safari is on an electric bus and round the different parts of the park. other than this, toy train and boat rides are popular among children.

Dhauli
This famous rock carving is about 8km south of Bhubaneshwar. The rock is now protected by a grill-fronted building and above, on top of a hillock, is a carved elephant. On a nearby hill is the huge, white Shanit Stupa built by the Japanese in 1972.

Khandagiri And Udaygiri
This fantastic rock cut caves were built by King Kharavela in the second half of the 1st century BC. This caves were Jain monks, who meditated in the caves. The caves are marked by a lively folk element in the elaborate carvings, are quite well preserved.