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- The Gupteswar Cave Shrine in Orissa, India
- Traveling to Chilka Lake and Puri, A Major Pilgrimage Site in Orissa, India
- The Fishing Village of Gopalpur on The Sea, Orissa, India
- A High Class Traditional Indian Wedding in Orissa
- The Friday Kunduli Market and Paraja Pottery Village in Orissa, India
- A Gadabba Tribal Dance in Orissa, India
- The Bonda Tribes of Orissa, India Love Their Liquor - The Thursday Bonda Market Continued
- Thursday Bonda Market, Onukudelli, Orissa - India
- Inside The Wednesday Dhongria Kondh Market in Orissa, India
- The Dhongria/Dongria/Dongariya Kondh Wednesday Market in Bissamcuttack, Orissa - India
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Breakfast and into the car by 7:00 a.m. for the ride to Gupteswar Cave. Gupteswar is a famous cave shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva and located at the top of a limestone hill about 500m/1,600' above sea level...View image. A big Shiva festival is held at Gupteswar (usually in February) and thousands of pilgrims come to the cave from all over Orissa and India. In 2009, the Shiva Festival was going to take place in two weeks and vendors had begun to set up their stalls in preparation...View image. It gets so crowded that pilgrims usually have to walk for miles from where transportation lets them off because of traffic congestion along the road.
The route was very beautiful on twisting roads through dense forests of Sal trees, a few with animist altars containing offerings to various deities, and a stop to pile leaves in front of another altar that the locals believe will ensure a safe journey.
Continue reading "The Gupteswar Cave Shrine in Orissa, India" »
Chilka Lake covers an area of 900 sq. km and is Asia's largest salt and fresh water lake. Over a million migratory birds, 230 species (that come from as far away as Siberia) visit Chilka every year. ...View image. Bird-lovers, Chilka is definitely the place to visit in December/January for flamingos, bar headed geese, shoveller and white-bellied sea eagles.
To see the birds, there are government motor boats and private boats for hire. A 1-1/2 hour motor boat ride will cost 4000R, while a slower motor boat will take 2 to 3-1/2 hours to go the same distance for 750R. Big difference but we didn't have the 3+ hours to spare today, especially since there were only a few flamingos who hadn't migrated back home yet. This trip was in February and the majority of birds had already departed. Close to the mouth of Chilka Lake, a large population of Gangetic dolphins can sometimes be seen but, again, it is too hot in February.
Continue reading "Traveling to Chilka Lake and Puri, A Major Pilgrimage Site in Orissa, India" »
After all the Traditional Indian Wedding excitement, we walked through the shambles left by 800 people, ate breakfast and left for the ride to Gopalpur on The Sea visiting different sites in route. We could have paid another visit to the Saora tribe but once was enough. This entire area is a intricate labyrinth of steep hills and valleys which are part of the Eastern Ghat. ("Ghat" means mountains.)
A few different road sights today were:
- Trucks loaded with buffalo dung used for fertilizer...View image
- Weaver bird nests hanging from telephone wires...and
- The many Desia Khond walking along the road. Today was the 15th of the month and the Indian Government makes low-cost rice available to the poor tribal people for 2R/Kilo. Both men and women were making their way carrying a plastic bag to carry the rice back home. (An average person consumes 200 grams (less than half pound) of rice at each meal. That certainly didn't sound like very much food to me.) It was also pension day and the people were heading to the local government office...View image... to collect their monthly pension, 200R/month.
Continue reading "The Fishing Village of Gopalpur on The Sea, Orissa, India" »
Deepak pulled up in front of the Hotel Sai International in Raygada, brilliantly decorated, unlike our previous stay a few days ago. Huh? There was going to be a high-class traditional Indian wedding at the hotel tonight and not only huge, but two brothers were having a double wedding! ...View image... That is certainly one way to economize on wedding costs. ex-Marine and I ate an early dinner, spent time chatting with the staff who were all excited over the festivities before parking myself with cameras and camcorder in front of the Hotel Sai entrance (dressed in my wedding best of capris and t-shirt).
The guests began arriving around 8:00 p.m. and headed into the attached tent erected in front of the hotel, taking seats in the rows of chairs while buffet tables completely lined the perimeter. Approximately, 800 guests were invited and this was only the bride's side of family and friends. Six days later, a dinner and reception would be held for the groom's family and friends. The little computer began ticking away in my brain adding up costs for an 800-guest wedding and came up with a "guestimate" of $40,000 minimum. A member of Hotel Sai staff informed me that the food costs are minimal because everything is vegetarian. However, the disk jockey, flowers, invitations, clothing, decorations, etc. eat up the majority of the money. A beautiful sari runs at least 5,000R, $100, big money in India.
Continue reading "A High Class Traditional Indian Wedding in Orissa" »
Breakfast and full day visit to our last market, the Friday Kunduli Market in Koroput and a scheduled stop at Kotapada Weaving Village. However, since we'd already seen one weaving village, ex-Marine and I decided to eliminate it from today's sights and Bibhu substituted a Paraja pottery village instead along with a short stop at Jagganath Temple in Koroput.
Experiencing different religions, meeting people and trying different foods is what makes travel exciting. Bibhu is a devout Hindu (the main religion of India) and did his best to fill our heads with religious knowledge but with thousands of Hindu gods and goddesses along with different beliefs and concepts, we were forever getting lost in a Hindu maze. The Jagganath Temple in Koroput (a new temple) was interesting though with the main highlight, sitting on the steps before the Goddess of Wealth. She would be highly offended if we didn't, and in these terrible financial times, certainly didn't want to give any offense or what remains of our money might be gone! The priest blessed us and we moved on to the Kunduli Friday Market.
Continue reading "The Friday Kunduli Market and Paraja Pottery Village in Orissa, India" »
Deepak stopped the car on the way to the Bonda Market where Bibhu jumped out to converse with elders of the Gadabba tribe. These men are in charge of arranging traditional Gadabba dances for the tourists and Bibhu had asked us yesterday if we were willing to pay $15 a couple to see a dance. Agreed and two French tourists staying at Hotel Hello Jeypore also joined us from another tour agency.
The Gadabba tribe is of Austro origin "...family of languages of southeast Asia... dominant in northeast India and Indochina..." and we had seen only two, elderly Gadabba women in the Bonda Market with the traditional two very thick silver neck rings which are not removed until they die. The women wear a long strip of cloth tied around the waist and a second piece of cloth worn across the breasts and tied over one shoulder. ...View image... They also wear a number of ornaments including necklaces, earrings, nose rings, and large silver hoops in their hair.
Continue reading "A Gadabba Tribal Dance in Orissa, India" »
Before driving back into Onukudelli, a woman came down the road with a pot of Mahuli liquor and stopped by an elderly Bonda man. He hunkered down. She took out a gourd that looked like a pipe, filled an empty beer bottle with the strong liquor (according to Bibhu) from her metal pot ...View image, and poured from the bottle into the pipe. The Bonda man began chugging the Mahuli liquor...coughing and choking like crazy..., one gourd at a time until the glass bottle was completely empty. That should have given him a nice buzz.
Still standing along the road, Bonda men appeared in the distance, carrying their home-brewed sago palm wine, mahuli liquor and rice wine. Bibhu told us not to photograph the men close-up but from a distance because they can get violent. Since they were also carrying spears, and bows and arrows with their liquor, I filmed from a good distance...View image. TIP: You need a camera with a telephoto lens. ...View image... The Bonda men set up their own little liquor area inside the market for men only. ...View image.
Continue reading "The Bonda Tribes of Orissa, India Love Their Liquor - The Thursday Bonda Market Continued" »
The hotels used during our Orissa visit were described as "basic" by Trade Winds Tours but we didn't think they were "basic" at all. We've seen basic (is that a good thing...or a bad thing) and these hotels could almost be considered "luxurious" compared to some we've stayed at (again, is that a good thing...or a bad thing). The Hotel Hello Jeypore had excellent food and we enjoyed eating there until one dinner included not one, not two, but three hairs in my food! Eewww...that temporarily turned me off eating.
Early breakfast for a full day. First, we had to get to Onukudelli on India's notorious roads and second, this was another market that you want to visit early while the Bonda tribe is coming down the mountains carrying their goods. ...View image... ...View image... The Thursday Bonda Market is considered by Bibhu to be the most interesting of all the market visits and we were excited. ...View image...
Continue reading "Thursday Bonda Market, Onukudelli, Orissa - India" »
ex-Marine, Bibhu and I set off back down the road towards the main market area with the Dhongria people to cross the train tracks at Bissamcuttack. ...View image. Men were bathing in the river...View image, plowing the rice paddies...View image, lines of women in front of us, behind us, walking through fields...View image, all heading in the same direction. Women were working on the railroad carrying baskets of stone, digging with shovels and pick axes while dressed in colorful saris and wearing bangles. Got to tell you...they looked a lot fresher than I did...
At the Bissamcuttack station, even more Dhongria and other tribes who had finished trading, bartering and buying whatever they needed, waiting for the next train home...View image. It was here that we spotted the one and only traditionally dressed young man ...View image with his fancy axe slung over one shoulder, earrings, metal and beaded necklaces, comb and clips in hair, dressed to attract a potential mate.
Continue reading "Inside The Wednesday Dhongria Kondh Market in Orissa, India" »
A very early start to Bissamcuttack from Rayagada to attend the Wednesday Dhongria Kondh Market. You want to arrive before the market actually begins to watch the Dhongria Kondh people come down from their mountain homes carrying goods to barter, trade, and sell. Our itinerary originally stated that we'd stop by a Dhongria/Dongariya village but the villages are now on the prohibited list because of problems there (that can always change - check on it). The Dhongria Khondhs live in the mountains and Desia Khondhs on the plains of Orissa. The Khondhs are the largest tribal society with over 1 million in Orissa and a very low literacy rate. Both tribes also practice elaborate birth, marriage, death rituals and once practiced human sacrifice. Fortunately, water buffalos or goats are now used instead
The Dongria women dress in white cotton togas and wear an interesting (to put it mildly) array of hairpins, ornaments, ear and nose rings and geometric tattoos. Most of the bracelets, etc. are made of brass, iron and aluminum, usually purchased in the market and made by a local "jeweler." ...View image...
Continue reading "The Dhongria/Dongria/Dongariya Kondh Wednesday Market in Bissamcuttack, Orissa - India" »
Exactly what is a typical "India" road? The road has one tarmaced strip shared by buses, lorries, cars, bullock carts and people. When opposing traffic comes at you, both vehicles move half off this strip of road onto the stone drop offs on either side. Then factor in the pot holes. Dusty, hot, bumpy, rutty and often extremely scary. A typical 45 km/26 mile distance will take anywhere between 1-1/2 to 2 hours if there aren't any accidents, police stops or lengthy train crossings.
Tourists come to Orissa for two main reasons: temples and tribal markets....View image. The Ducumbh Market was only a "warm-up." The best were yet to come on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday but it was always good to get out of the automobile and stretch in the shade ...View image, under flowering Mango trees...View image. A small market but engrossing.
Continue reading "The Ducumbh Tuesday Market in Kotgarh, Orissa - India" »
Bibhu had made arrangements with Taptapani Guesthouse manager to serve a very early breakfast at 6:00 a.m. because Deepak wanted get on the road by 6:30. We were there, the manager/cook was not. Under way later than hoped for, we passed by an unusual method of rice storage. These particular locals dig a hole in the ground, put in layers of straw and cow dung, add their rice, put more straw and cow dung on top and seal with mud. This keeps their rice fresh until they are ready to break into it and use.
A stop to look at the Mahua flower growing on trees along the road. The sloth bear (common in Orissa but difficult to see), cows and goats like the flowers with its alcoholic content and the tribes gather the flowers to make maholi alcohol out of it. The flowers bloom at night, fall off...View image, and the animals gather to eat off the ground. They even get a little tipsy from the flowers.
Continue reading "A Saora Village On The Way to Rayagada, Orissa, India" »
A few more facts:
- Younger people are having only 1-2 children now and we saw posters on a wall encouraging the women to have babies in a hospital instead of using their local midwife...View image;
- There are two rice crops a year in the coastal areas, one in the interior;
- Only about 1,000 tourists visit Orissa yearly and the Mumbai bombing was responsible for a big drop in numbers. Tourists are far and few between in 2009; and
- If you run over a cow or hit one, the driver gets a huge fine and has to pay compensation to the owner. Kill a dog? That's free!
Still on the road to Taptapan with a stop in the Chilka Lake area for lunch visiting fisherman selling huge crabs, giant prawns, and fish waiting to be exported to bigger cities in India and around the world. (I try to stay away from seafood in hot climates after a food poisoning episode in Cambodia.)
Continue reading "Local Orissan Food, Chilka Lake and Taptapani, India" »
When ex-Marine and I travel, "leisure" isn't really in the dossier vocabulary. Up early and starving, but when Ginger Hotel says they begin breakfast at 7:30 a.m., they mean it. Not one second sooner. Over coffee, we debated the merits of training back from Bhubaneswar to Kolkata or flying at the end of this Orissa tour. Neither of us had noticed (or paid attention) to the fact that the train wouldn't leave Bhubaneswar until 2:00 p.m., arrive in Kolkata very late, and we were heading on to Sunderbans Tiger Reserve the following day. Did that sound restful to you? Not us and as soon as Bibhu and Deepak appeared, Bibhu telephoned Trade Winds (our Orissa tour operator) who told us to come in right away for plane reservations and ticketing. A one-way ticket from Bhubaneswar to Kolkata on Kingfisher Airlines was only $70 U.S. Done deal! FYI: Kingfisher Airlines is owned by the Kingfisher Brewery mogul in India.
The original destination for today was Balliguda but it was changed a week before our departure from the U.S. by the India tour operator. According to them, Balliguda was having a few "local difficulties" and the Government didn't want any tourists in this region. All righty then. It would be Taptapani (235 kms/146 miles away) even though the only thing worth seeing in Taptapani itself was a sulphur spring.
Continue reading "Bhubaneswar to Taptapani with Stops Along The Way - Orissa, India" »
Bhubaneswar is supposed to have excellent shopping for many Orissan crafts. Silver filigree work called Tarakasi, brass and bell metal work, Patta paintings, patchwork textiles, but we wouldn't have time to visit the shops in either direction. After temple viewing today, it was on the road tomorrow for an all day drive to Taptapani. So sad...
A short walk across the grass to Mukhteshwar Temple...View image, set in picturesque surroundings with a water tank and minor temples in the compound. Mukhteshwar dates back to 950 A.D. and had the most exquisitely carved Torana (gate) detail found in any of the temples. Several temples that we'd see later in this journey - Jagannath Temple, Puri and Konarak Sun Temple - were probably modeled after Mukhteshwar.
Continue reading "Mukhteshwar, Rajarani and Lingaraj Temples of Bhubaneswar - Orissa, India" »
Bhubaneswar (pop: 1 million) is the capital of Orissa, and one of India's poorest states if not the poorest. The total population of Orissa is approximately 36 million, 90% are Hindu, with an illiteracy rate of 63%. Traveling through Orissa over the next 10 days, it was pointed out to us that the major occupation is agriculture and farmers see no need for their children to receive an education past primary school (if they are lucky) even though the Government is trying to change this. Revived by black coffee (coffee and/or tea on the train almost always has sugar added to it) at the Ginger Hotel (resembles a Novotel), we were off and running for the rest of the afternoon.
Bhubaneswar was once the ancient kingdom of Kalinga and had over 7,000 temples of which 600 temples still remain, a few of which date back more than 1400 years. Fortunately, we were only going to the the four main temples - Parasurameswara, Mukhteshwar, Rajarani and Lingaraj.
Continue reading "Bhubaneswar in Orissa, India and Parasurameswara Temple" »
(The prior posts on Kolkata have already appeared in Travels With Sheila. Just follow this link to read about -- > Kolkata, a very interesting city and one we thoroughly enjoyed.
It was time for a very early morning transfer to Kolkata Howrah Railway Station to board the Dhauli Express departing at 6:00 a.m. Don't know about you, but I find it impossible to get a good night's sleep when we're getting picked up at 4:00 a.m. Sukant and driver were at the Hotel Lytton right on time for the 15-minute ride to the Howrah Station only to discover that our train was leaving one hour late with nothing to do but sit around and wait. I'm going out on a limb here and dare to compare travel in India with travel in China since we've traveled extensively (and been stranded) on all manners of transport throughout both countries. Why can't India cant get its act together? Rail, airports, roads, "suck" to put it mildly and not because of this delay. That happens at home...View image. Both countries have the manpower, similar populations and power to modernize. Come on, India...let's see some new construction.
Continue reading "Training from Kolkata, India to Bhubaneswar on the Dhuali Express" »
We were thrilled to have one afternoon with nothing to do but walk around Puri...View image. You could take a taxi or rickshaw from Hotel Hans Coco Palm down to the main area, called Bada Danda. This road runs parallel to the beach and is where all the typical Puri handicrafts are located. Sea shell items, paintings on cloth, wood carvings, stone carvings, and clothes...View image. The other street is called Swargadwara at the southern end of the beach. All the action is along the coast and beaches run for a few kilometers. ...View image. It was an easy walk and there is always an option to hail one of the many rickshaws (impossible not to find one) if you pooped out along the way.
During the day, vendors set up little carts and shacks directly on "Golden Beach" selling food and drinks to the covered up Indian people, sitting on the beach and picnicing. People come from as far away as Kolkata just to spend a weekend and, of course, you have the more than 100,000 pilgrims who visit Puri each day and take time to laze on the beach.
Continue reading "Relaxing and Walking Around Puri - Orissa, India" »
Beside the three main temples, one behind each other, there were immense statues scattered around the grounds that had been moved from their original spots. A horse with one headless statue...View image, a lonely elephant...View image, and then there was the barred up entrance to the main temple...View image, too dangerous for people to enter. It is believed that the sacred Sun image is kept in the National Museum of Delhi but there was a replica high in the last complex...View image. FYI: Please keep in mind that you have to be in "decent" shape to visit Konarak Sun Temple. It's up stone stairs, down stone stairs (all without railings or support), walk a distance in the heat and then more stairs. If handicapped, you could easily tour the perimeter and admire all the sculptures and carvings.
The Sun temple belongs to the Kalinga School of architecture with a Main Sanctum, Audience Hall, Dancing Hall and Dining Hall. The entire compound measures 261m/857' by 160m/540'. We have visited the Khajuraho Hindu and Jain temples, famous for their erotic sculpture from the 9th century but for some reason (perhaps because Konarak Sun Temple is smaller and more intimate), the Konarak erotic sculptures made more of an impact.
Continue reading "Konarak Sun Temple's Erotic Art, Orissa, India" »
It's an easy day trip (or half-day) on a generally good road past gorgeous Causarina Trees from Puri to the massive and famous Konarak Sun Temple...View image. Konarak Temple is a 13th century architectural marvel, designed as a celestial chariot of the Sun God with 12 pairs of wheels and seven horses. Situated on the Bay of Bengal, this legendary temple also has beautiful sculptures...View image... covering all aspects of life and lots of erotic art. The Konarak Sun Temple is one of Orissa's major highlights and we were excited about seeing it.
Konarak Temple is open from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and is always thronged with thousands of pilgrims who came to visit Jagannath Temple, and tourists like us who have heard of Konarak's renown (even though there were only two other westerners there besides us. We arrived by 9:00 a.m. and it was already beastly hot with no shade. The temperature was supposed to reach 40 C/104 F today (it was probably between 30/86-32 C/95 F now). I'd recommend biting the bullet and getting there as early as possible. (Spend US$40 at the Lonely Planet Shop and receive free delivery and a free gift  )
Continue reading "The Sun Temple of Konarak, Puri - Orissa, India" »
The 12th century Jagannath Temple is known for its annual "car" festival. Silly me thought it was all about cars -- those vehicles with four tires? Not a gigantic festival when statues of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Subhadra are brought from Jagannath Temple to Gundicha Temple in mammoth wooden chariots pulled by thousands of devotees. Hey...what do I know...that's why I travel, to learn. Puri swells to over 1 million during this "car" (Rath Yatra) festival but over 100,000 pilgrims arrive daily to worship inside the Jagannath Temple.
Left Hotel Hans Coco Palms at 4:30 p.m., and Deepak parked the car several blocks away since 4-wheel traffic is only allowed down Puri's main street for a short distance. Car parked, we walked down the main street, taking in the incredible people and animal sights... (Really...cows rule India...View image...) Gawking at stands selling everything from cd's to food, people mending shoes...View image, thousands of people (pilgrims) along with colorful rickshaws jostling for space...View image, tuk-tuks, bicycles, pedestrians, sellers, beggars, and old colonial buildings lining the streets...View image. Where do you look first?
Continue reading "Puri, India's Jagannath Temple in Orissa" »
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