General Information. Area : 2,889 km² Forest Area : 618.67 km² Population : 18,74,405 Literacy Rate : 80.19% Head quarter : Khurda Sub-Divisions : 02 Blocks : 10

Visitors Information Climate : Hot, dry and cold. So the ideal time to visit Bhubaneswar is from October to March . Winter : Max temperature 35°C , Min 16°C. Summer : Max temperature 38°C , Min 25°C. Clothing : Cotton clothes during summers and light woolens during Winters. Seasons : Winter, autumn, spring, summer and the monsoon season. Language : Though here majority people speaks ' Oriya, but a visitor will freely speaks Hindi and English. Food habit : Here Indian, Chinese, continental and several internationally demanded dishes are available.

Temple City -Bhubaneswar .

Bhubaneswar, the name itself defines differences. It means the Lord of Universe. Widely known as temple city more than 600 number of temples are in existence. After the thousand year old city cuttack it became the capital of Orissa in 1948 . Bhubaneswar, now the state capital of Orissa, has a delightful blend of ancient temples, modern and multi-storied buildings. The existence of Jains and Buddhist Shrines in and around Bhubaneswar gives a clear indication as to the antiquity of this city begins from the age of BC. Some of the important temples in and around Bhubaneswar are the famous Lingaraj Mandir, Vaital Mandir, Parsurameswar Mandir, Mukteswar, Siddeswar and Kedargauri Mandir, Raja-Rani Mandir, the Brahmeswar Mandir etc. and many more. Most of these temples are situated in the old town. All the major temples are within a radius of 5km . Oissa state assembly, secretariat , Info city ,Institute of Physics and several internationally acclaimed institution and research centers are here. The city comes under Khurda district.

And many Temple to see around.

As city of temples, here a visitor can see a lot of well architected ancient temples. Here Lingaraj temple, Rajarani Temple and many more are worthy to see.

Lingraj Temple :This 11th century temple is considered to be the ultimate in Orissa’s temple architecture. A huge wall encloses the temple complex. The complex has about 100 small shrines. There are four main buildings in the temple compound. In addition to the numerous small subsidiary shrines ,to the left of the Symmetrically pillared hall is "Jagamohan", then the Nata Mandir and finally the "Bhoga Mandir" .

Mukteswar Temple : It was built in the 10th century and is well acclaimed for its stone architecture.The luminous beauty of the Mukteswar temple is often called as the 'Gem of Orissan architecture'. This temple has some of the most ornate carvings and renditions of stories from the Panchatantra. The arched gateway is particularly fine. It shows an excellent combination of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain features .

Rajarani Temple : It was built in the 11th century. The beauty of the female form and the filigree sweetness of flowers and fruits are enhanced by the artists dexterous skill.

Parsurameswar Temple : It is a small but richly decorated shrine of Shiva that was built in the 7th century. It is one of the best preserved. It has sculptures featuring amorous couples, animals and floral motifs.

Yogini Temple: It is situated about 15 km from Bhubaneswar at Hirapur. One of the four Yogini Temples in India, it has beautiful Yoginis carved from black chlorite- a great study for the connoisseurs of art and architecture.

Ananta Basudev Temple : It is an important Vaishnava shrine. Built in 1278 AD by Rani Chandrika Devi, the presiding deities in this temple are Ananta i.e.Lord Balaram, Lord Jagannath and their sister Subhadra.

KedarGouri Temple : This Dedicated to Shiva ,Who is called Kedareswar here. And Goddess Gouri also here worshipped as deity. By the side of the temple there is a perennial stream. It is believed that a single sip of water from this tank absolves the drinker from the repeated cycles of birth and death.

Bindusagar : Just north of the Lingaraj temple , the Bindusagar temple is situated . It is believed that the tank water here contains water from easy holy stream . It is also believed by the devout that a dip in the holy tank at Bindusagar washes away all the sins. There are numerous small shrines scattered around the temple tank.

Dhauli The Budhist Monastery Dome :About 8 km South of Bhubaneshwar, here lies Dhauli, the spot of great kalinga war which was occured in the year 261 B.C. It was here that the great transformation in king Ashoka took place and Buddhism was revitalised.To carry the peace message to the masses, the king Ashoka engraved a set of rock edicts through out India and one of them is at dhauli.Other set is at Jaugarh at Orissa .
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Other institution and spots.

Orissa state museum : The Museum is in Gautam Nagar , left of the road towards Bhubaneswar to puri. The collections includes archaeological exhibit of stone inscription , rich collection of ancient and rare palm-leaf manuscripts, tribal portraits, copper plates, coins, traditional and folk musical instruments and manymore.

Tribal research centre : Here one can see the collections of tribal dresses, weapons and jewellery. Outside one can see the display of various houses of Orissan Adivasis or tribal, including the Santal, Juang, Godaba, Saora and kondh.

Handicraft museum : Here one can see a large collection of traditional art and crafts-brass and hornware, toys, silver filigree boxes with items of stone sculptures and patta-chitras.

Udayagiri and Khandagiri caves : Here two hills facing each other across the road. It is here that many richly ornately carved caves are ensconced. probably they are belong to the 1st century B.C.These caves are 3 kilometers south form the new Baramunda busstand.

Ekamra Kanan : In the north of the town at Nayapally, the government has opened a new botanical research and conservation centre which is known as Ekamra Kanan . Built on a 200-hectare site here one can see a rose garden, lush green lawns, various varieties of cacti & plants, woods and flower bedecked flower beds .

How to reach.

Bhubaneswar is well connected in all transport means. One can take any of the three options to reach this temple city Bhubaneswar. One can reach Bhubaneswar by road. the city is connecte by NH 5. The city bus-stand is 5km . Airport located within the city limit where regular flights from kolkata, Delhi, Visakhapatnam, Mumbai operates. Biju patnaik airport is about 6 km distancs from the town. Indian Airlines operates flights to Bhubaneswar from Delhi, Calcutta and other cities . Bhubaneswar is also well connected by rail. Bhubaneswar is the head quarter of South Eastern railway. It is located at a distance of 440 KM from kolkata in north direction and around 445 KM from Visakhapatnam to words south. Bhubaneswar railway station comes between main train lines connecting Kolkata to Chennai. All express and super fast trains stops at Bhubaneswar. The train journey from kolkata is 8 hours, form Hyderabad 20 hrs and from Chennai is 25 hrs .

Accomodation.

Wide range of accommodation is plentely available in this city for a tourist.

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