Rayagada was once a town in the Koraput district but later on gained the recognition of being a district. The town is served as the base point for visiting near by tourist interest like Hatipur, Devagiri, Minajhola and Padampur. The place is a true natural beauty, guarded by small hills and covered by meadows, forests, waterfalls and terraced valley. The main inhabitants are various tribal groups who are living in this unexplored paradise.



Rayagada is also unique because it showcase India's 'unity in diversity'. It is a home to various races, languages and culture. Due to closeness to Andhra Pradesh, it also has large population of South Indian. The tribals living here have their own style of food gathering. They have their diverse languages, dialects, societies and culture.

Sights And Activities

Hatipur
Hatipur is famous for its two beautiful waterfalls on the course of river Nagavali, situated at a distance of 3km from Rayagada. The best time to visit the place is during winter. An unexplored wonder is a perfect place to get rid of pollution, suffocation and crowd. There are huge boulders seems like elephant stands precariously stands on the rocky bed of river Nagavali. It is an excellent picnic spot.

Padampur
The place is 94km from Rayagada. You can get hired taxi from the town. The place houses a shrine of Manikeswar Shiva. Also the place is renowned for Buddhism as it is believed to be a seat of Dharmakirti, the Buddhist Logician Philosopher.

Miniajhola
It is scenic place plus a revered pilgrimage, located 134km from Rayagada on the confluence of three rivers.

Devagiri
At the distance of 48km from Rayagada is also a revered place for pilgrims. Uniqueness of the place is 120m flattened hill, which has seven natural steps and the fourth step enshrines Goddess Mahalakshmi.

Orissa's Indigenous Tribes
Orissa has almost 62 tribal groups spread through Orissa, Chattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. In Orissa they account for one quarter of the state's population and mostly dwell the forests and hilly regions of the center and southwest of Orissa. The Tribes here become a major tourist draw in the state as their unique lifestyle and handicrafts inspire curiosity among travelers. To see the life from the close quarter, visit some of the accessible villages and weekly haats (village markets). But you need to take permission to visit the adivasi villages. The most populous tribe is Kondh that comprise of about one million and are based around Koraput in the southwest and near Sambalpur in the northwest. Other major tribe is Bonda, also known as 'naked people' for wearing minimal clothing, live in the hills near Koraput. It is important to visit these areas on an organized tour.