Skip to main content

A little gem on India's eastern coast


Have just come back from a refreshing trip to Puri, a throbbing town in Orissa, a tourist destination as well as a religious hotspot. It's location, alongside the Bay of Bengal, gives it a unique sea coast and lovely beaches. A favourite of Bengali travellers from time immemorial, Puri has reigned supreme in the list of favoured travel destinations of the die-hard Bengali. Its proximity to Kolkata makes it almost like home away from home while on travel.

The sea at Puri is turbulent most of the time, with successive waves crashing on top of each other continuously. The effect is that of unruly kids tumbling and falling over each other! At night the sea seems to acquire a different character, a hauntingly mysterious entity beckoning with its dark vastness. The best part is that the town is very much alive at night, with its bustling markets and well lit beaches. The uniqueness of Puri lies in its bustle and its homeliness. It does not "feel" like a tourist destination.

The Sri Jagannath Temple, one of the holy Char Dhams in Hindu religion, is a major draw for the devout Hindu. The historic temple is formidable for its strictness and character. Even the most educated and elite person is humbled in the presence of Sri Jagannath, reigning with his siblings, Balaram and Subhadra. The temple authorities have been criticised, however, for barring non-Hindus from entering the premises. This is one rule, which I feel, even the Lord won't be happy about. To Him, after all, all are equal.

UNESCO Heritage site, the world famous Konark temple is just an hour's drive from Puri. The Sun Temple, with its unique stone sculptures and frescos, gives a peek into India's glorious past. Our ancient artisan forefathers had created poetry on stone, without the aid of any modern technology. What scientific precision and architectural perfection Konark combines! It has to be seen and experienced to be believed.

The world weary traveller must visit Puri at least once to revive flagging spirits and charge the soul. Its not everyday that nature and spiritual beneficience combine to give us a recharging and rejuvenating experience.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Does Mother Mary Really Come? You bet!

Prolific writer-activist-thinker Arundhati Roy's memoir, an ode to her mother's formidable personality, is cleverly titled, Mother Mary Comes to Me. Below the title is a picture of young Roy nonchalantly smoking a bidi. Irreverence, thy name is Arundhati Roy! At 372 pages, it is a tome, a sweeping saga that recollects both her mother's remarkable life, as well as her own. Is it a Memoir? Yes and no. Though the book title refers to their mother-daughter relationship, the book - at several junctures treats each one of them as independent and exclusive from one another. In fact, for a good part, her mother finds no mention at all, and the reader is engrossed reading about Roy's exploits and struggles through Architecture College, early attempts to find her vocation and calling, her dabbling with cinema, acting, scriptwriting; her romantic liaisons with the luscious JC, Sanjay, Pradeep et al. A life as extraordinary and unapologetic as Arundhati's mesmerizes in itself. ...
1 comment
Read more

The Sadness Within Us

A curious phenomenon has taken place over the years. Technology has advanced in leaps, modern medicine has become far more effective, we can control pain and disease far better, mental health is getting due attention, there are more avenues for creativity and entertainment.  Yet.... We are no longer able to be really happy. We are a chronically unhappy people. Forever dissatisfied, never content. Always thinking about the past or the future, never enjoying the moment. Think about it. When was the last time you were really, truly, wholly happy? Blissful, joyful? You slog hard at office, get that deserved raise/promotion, party hard to celebrate, and yet at the end of the day, a hollowness creeps in. An emptiness, a feeling of futility. You have a grand wedding - its the stuff Instagram dreams are made of. Your sweetheart looks like a million bucks with the latest designer lehenga, you yourself are spruced up, your family and friends are beaming, the event is going on swimmingly. Yet...
Post a Comment
Read more

Emotional toil of festival times

Festivals are happy times, right? Time for merriment, revelry, celebration, enjoying yourself... Wrong! Studies show festivals call for a steady spike in stress levels. Cortisol shoots up, starting with preparation for festivals, and remains high throughout, in the quest to do everything perfectly, "at least during the festival". Guess who bears the brunt of this? Yes, its the one who takes emotional labour for everyone she cares for - the woman of the house. She wants everything to be perfect, so works her ass off tidying and cleaning things. Then she wants her family to be fed well, so spends hours toiling away making delicacies in the kitchen. Rangoli to be painted - there she is with the brush. Festoons to be hung up - she's balancing herself on a stool. Furniture rearranged, flowers put up, puja room decorated? Yes, only one person who signs up for all this. Then there's the stress of the whole family at home, stepping on each other's toes. She has to appease...
2 comments
Read more