Although permits aren’t usually needed, there are tribal areas in western and central Orissa where foreigners have to register their details with the police. This is all done for you if you are on a tour but independent visitors should check their plans with the police in the nearest city.
Well travelled during the hippy-trail days of yore, Southeastern Orissa is now a stop mainly for those who need to catch their breath beachside before visiting the sun temple at Karnak.
The 2750-sq-km Similipal National Park (Indian/foreigner per day Rs 40/1000; 6am-noon day visitor, entry by 2pm with accommodation reservation 1 Nov-15 Jun) is Orissa’s prime wildlife sanctuary.
Sambalpur is the centre for the textile industry spread over western Orissa. If you haven’t already bought examples of ikat or sambalpuri weaving, Gole Bazaar is the place to look. The town is important as a base for nearby Badrama National Park, andDebrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary on the edge of Hirakud Dam.
Attracted by spiritual or earthly pleasures, three types of visitors come to Puri: Hindu pilgrims, Indian holidaymakers and foreign travellers, and each group sets up camp in different parts of town. For Hindus, Puri is one of the holiest pilgrimage places in India, with religious life revolving around the great Jagannath Mandir and its famous Rath Yatra (Car Festival).
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.
If you hate wildlife, then Northeastern Orissa is not the place for you. However, if you like the idea of wild elephants, tigers, Irrawaddy dolphins, crocodiles or magnificent mangroves, take a look.
The majestic Sun Temple at Konark – a Unesco World Heritage site – is, like the Taj Mahal, one of India’s signature buildings and Konark exists purely for it. Most visitors are day-trippers from Bhubaneswar or Puri, but it’s not a bad place to kick back in overnight.
Gopalpur-on-Sea is a seaside town the British left to slide into history until Bengali holidaymakers discovered its attractions in the 1980s. Prior to this, it had a noble history as a seaport with connections to Southeast Asia.
Bhubaneswar’s rapid expansion has been tempered by the construction of wide avenues and the green belts; nevertheless a typically hectic, noisy, congested city centre greets the traveller. The old city’s spiritual centre is around Bindu Sagar where, from the thousands that once stood here, 50-odd stone temples remain, survivors from the heyday of Orissan medieval temple architecture.