At the almighty's house and town

@Jagannath Puri : 1# Chilka is as amazing as Brahmputra. So vast that one cannot visualize it through words. Still raw, and so beautiful to me. The water tastes a bit salty. I have been told that the division between the bay and the lake is removed. I worry and wonder about the effect on life in it. Local bakery biscuits are testy. 2# At chilka, happen to meet an Iserial young man who is deeply interested in Gandhi. Had a chat about Schindler's List-King Ashok and Palestine- Pakistan. 3# Konark is awesome. The Kamasutra statues eat up the beauty of History, Mathematics, sculpture and Indianness ; for common visitors. 4# The gate keeper was literary inviting visitors to visit the Tourism Department's restaurant instead of going to adjoining restaurants. He assured us about the quality, and he was right. 5# Be prepared for extra sweetness in almost all food items, particularly local ones. Bengal effect is evident. Where are those who say that Gujaratis user to much sweet!¿ Do visit Orissa. 6# No wonder that one finds Gujarati tourists in significant numbers. We had Bhavnagat fame 'ganthia' in our breakfast. I would like to offer our proverb for wishful travelling agencies : who keeps moving gets food, who remains settled would die of hunger (). 7# Bengan pakoda, Karela pakoda, Bhaji pakoda, Aaloo pakoda, bread pakoda and vada...savored dinner at 40INR. @Bhubaneshwar 1#Lingraja Temple is impressive with its angular designs. One may not find it interesting after visiting Konark, but it is worth visiting. Pandas at Lingraj Temple are customer friendly. They don't follow you. They offer tour of the temple as a guide and then make you offer dakshina to HariHar. Our guide asked me three time : Maa, khushi se diya chchhe? Pandas here were vastras with vibrant colours and beautiful borders. This temple is also environment friendly with terracotta lamps and palm leaves prasad box. Though vendors offer the visitors polythine bag to carry flowers and Puja stuff. 2# Mukteshvar Temple is one of the Archeological sites and it is beautiful. It has beautiful carving on its ceiling and outside walls. Saved from the rush of pilgrims somehow, it looks serene. That's why it may have became a resting place for high school students. 3# I was told that Udaygiri and Khandgiri are waste of time, we have wasted ours. 4#Dhauligiri (Dhavalgiri) is like Kurukhetra, Haldighati or Panipat. No impressive monument yet the visitor get moved reflecting upon the history of the place.Looking at river Daya (compassion), which became river of blood after Kalinga war, one reflects : what flows in mind are thoughts or emotions or reflexes or reflections ? How humanly Gandhi carried forward the legacy of Buddha and Ashok! What a heritage one has! @General 1# Bhubaneshwar has good internal transport system with buses as well as 'line auto'. Line auto costs double then the bus, but it is still cheaper than 'reserved' auto. Puri also has different rates for tourists. Padel rixa is a good option in Puri as it moves slowly allowing us to view the town. These vehicles moves quite slow.The bus took 3:15hours for 60km. Auto drivers are simply shrewd and for a nearby place they insist for 'reserved auto' and may misguide the tourist.One would be extremely lucky if one finds a cooperative auto driver. We were lucky once. 2# PPP system is in function here. Important tourist places has already been given to private companies, like parking at Uday-khandgiri,safari at Nandankanan and Bhitarkarnika. The outcome, high cost without any notable positive change in our familiar system. 3# Where Gujarati and Hindi speaking persons use 'kripa' in speech, Odiya people use' daya'. It was strange to my ears to listen 'daya kari dhyan aapo'. 4# Food at ISKCON is a good experience. 5# Planetarium has a show in Hindi at 3pm and in English at 4pm.Science center is worth visiting if one has curiosity bug. Both are nearby. (Rabindra Mandap is also near to them. ) 6# 'Excuse me' is a word of guides at Konark. Don't get impressed by it. 7#Pink seems the prominent choice of Odiya people. The red in flowers turns pink here. There is pink lebeled autos which are called women friendly autos. Girls with uniformed hairstyle wear pink ribbon.The students look cool in their pink and green instead of blue, cream and gray. Almost all the self-financed colleges have 'uniformed' students. (some colleges in Gujarat also follow this fashion.) It seems that secondary level onwards, the girl students do not have uniform hair style. Gujarat should adopt this freedom. There is a uniform for all level teachers here; Orissa should learn from 'us'. I asked one college student : isn't it boring? She said she finds it ok. Well, I find it horrible to spend most part of life wearing uniform. One teacher told me : 'Now-a-days all have uniform. You see, seles persons and all.' Thakur, 'prahar karo...jagao mera desh...' 8# Tribal museum is worth visiting. I appreciated the interactive audiovisual in each gallery, and was told that it was prepared by a Gujarati firm and the designers are very much in the museum. Had a lovely chat with both( Nikita & Lokesh ) the enthusiast and creative designers. 1# We Gujarati has no common tradition dance or singing style. Certainly some communities do have but they are still in primitive form, not upto the 'classical' standards. Why so? Classical forms has its own discipline and learning them helps (certainly, not necessarily) one imbibe discipline. 2#

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