Day 1 - 5/DEC/2015
I always wondered about the peculiar temple architecture of Odissa and wanted to visit and experience it in person. And i got the opportunity when i heard Kusmanjali was getting married at Bhubaneshwar. Immediately called Prabal and asked him to arrange for a trip around Bhubaneswar. And the rest was history.
13:25- Indigo Flight 6E-491 landed at Biju Patnaik International Airport, Bhubaneshwar.
13:40- Came out of the airport expecting the driver (Prabal) to be holding a board, with "APPI" written on it. But he was just standing with a wide smile. Loaded my bags into his Santro Car and started driving towards his house.
14:15- Was welcomed by his parents at his house. Ate Rice + Dhal, Brinjal Grill, Cucumber Palya etc. Wow so many veggies, ate brinjal for the first time :P
15:15- Went around Bhubaneswar.
Siddheswara Temple
Parasuramesvara Temple
Lingaraj Temple
As they did not allow any electronic equipments inside the temple, Prabal waited outside holding my camera and mobile. He gave particular instructions, that never stop and talk to anyone inside.
The temple architecture was amazing. Went inside the main mandir, before i could realise what had happened, i was holding some flowers and the temple priest (locally called Ponda) was holding my hand, asking me to recite some mantras. It went on for couple of minutes as i felt uncomfortable i asked him to let go. He said you have just promised the god for an abhisheka 6 am tomorrow so please pay 550/-. Now i realized why Prabal asked me not to stop anywhere. I could have told that i was not interested and walked out, but there was others around me who could have felt bad, so just took 100/- and paid him walked out of there.
Bindu Sagar
Rajarani Temple
18:00- Drove around Bhubaneswar, went to chaat street and tasted Mutton chops, pista badam kulfi etc. Went around the wide empty roads of the IT corridor, bought some cupcakes.
20:00- Dinner Time. Thanks to Lipun (Prabal's Sister) for the South Indian Style Chicken, the parathas and fish.
Day 2- 6/DEC/2015
6:00- Woke up early and got ready for the drive to Puri.
7:15- Had yummy butter roti for breakfast.
9:00- Reached the holy town of Puri parked our car and rushed our way into the Jagannath Temple.
After a lot of pushing and shoving we went inside the main area. The idol looked very different compared to the ones here. The eyes were unusually big and bright. Drank white colored drink made of rice (tasted like butter milk), bought prashad and returned to the Car Parking area.
12:00- Reached the lotus resort in Konark. Freshened up and left to the Konark temple.
While we left the room, a small snake was slithering over the roof, by the time i took out my camera, sadly it disappeared within the thatched roof.
14:00- Had lunch at Konark, the Fish Butter Masala was awesome.
14:45- Entered the Konark temple.
<I'll update the details of the temple in the next blog post>
17:00- Reached the Konark beach to check out the International Sand Art festival. To our disappointment the festival had just ended a day before and all the art was demolished by a bulldozer.
19:30- Had awesome tandoori fish and chicken 65. Enjoyed the cool breeze outside and clicked some star while prabal painted the chef.
Day 3- 7/DEC/2015
6:30- Crossed the river to reach the sea to view the amazing sunrise. Found a couple of local people who fished in the morning for an hour and served the Indian government later in the day.
8:00- Had heavy breakfast, poori, dosa, idli, vada, egg omelette+boiled, corn flakes etc
11:15- Reached Sipakuda and started our boat journey.
13:00- Reached Chilika Sea Mouth and ordered two freshly caught fish. They just fried it with salt, turmeric and chilly powder. The taste was out of this world.
12:00- Came back to Sipakuda and started our journey back to Bhubaneswar.
Met this cute young kid, who was prabal's niece. She was so active and full of energy. Her smile made us forget the our tiredness.
The drive was amazing, one thing i missed was my 90 PS engine :P
Day4- 8/DEC/2015
10:00- Prabal dropped me to Udayagiri Jain Caves on the way to his work. It was really nice to explore the place alone.
Prabal had warned me not to buy peanuts from the vendor there, as the Hanuman langurs would immediately snatch it from us. But this time i saw the vendor asking us to buy peanuts to feed the langurs.
12:30- Took Uber back to Prabal's house.
2:00 - Finished lunch then Took Uber to New Marrion Hotel to attend Kusmanjali's wedding.
Met Mandal and Roshan there.
6:00 - Went out for snacks.
8:00 - The bride arrived as silently as a leopard stalking its prey. She was very lazy to pose for the pics. Had to google myself for sample wedding poses and suggested her to pose. Well one thing that became clear was, she was better of writing C Code than posing for Pics. Thanks to the Other photographer (Whom i am not supposed to name :P ) for the focus lights, the pics came out good.
10:00 - The snacks we had earlier made us to eat late. While we were munching the groom came in along with the barath!!! We were expecting someone to inform us while they arrived, but none did. So i missed my chance of being part of a barath.
Day5 - 9/DEC/2015
1:15 - The wedding went on and on. The must win Manu - Wolsfburg ,atch gave me a break. Watched the entire match, which we lost and out of champions leauge.
3:00 - The wedding was still on. Some were struggling to keep their eyes open, while others dozed off.
4:00 - It as finally done. Kusmanjali was married to Chinmaya.
5:00 - Went back to sleep.
12: Took flight back to bangalore 6E- 492.
I always wondered about the peculiar temple architecture of Odissa and wanted to visit and experience it in person. And i got the opportunity when i heard Kusmanjali was getting married at Bhubaneshwar. Immediately called Prabal and asked him to arrange for a trip around Bhubaneswar. And the rest was history.
13:25- Indigo Flight 6E-491 landed at Biju Patnaik International Airport, Bhubaneshwar.
13:40- Came out of the airport expecting the driver (Prabal) to be holding a board, with "APPI" written on it. But he was just standing with a wide smile. Loaded my bags into his Santro Car and started driving towards his house.
14:15- Was welcomed by his parents at his house. Ate Rice + Dhal, Brinjal Grill, Cucumber Palya etc. Wow so many veggies, ate brinjal for the first time :P
15:15- Went around Bhubaneswar.
Siddheswara Temple
Parasuramesvara Temple
Lingaraj Temple
As they did not allow any electronic equipments inside the temple, Prabal waited outside holding my camera and mobile. He gave particular instructions, that never stop and talk to anyone inside.
The temple architecture was amazing. Went inside the main mandir, before i could realise what had happened, i was holding some flowers and the temple priest (locally called Ponda) was holding my hand, asking me to recite some mantras. It went on for couple of minutes as i felt uncomfortable i asked him to let go. He said you have just promised the god for an abhisheka 6 am tomorrow so please pay 550/-. Now i realized why Prabal asked me not to stop anywhere. I could have told that i was not interested and walked out, but there was others around me who could have felt bad, so just took 100/- and paid him walked out of there.
Bindu Sagar
Captured the sunset at the small pond.
Rajarani Temple
18:00- Drove around Bhubaneswar, went to chaat street and tasted Mutton chops, pista badam kulfi etc. Went around the wide empty roads of the IT corridor, bought some cupcakes.
20:00- Dinner Time. Thanks to Lipun (Prabal's Sister) for the South Indian Style Chicken, the parathas and fish.
Day 2- 6/DEC/2015
6:00- Woke up early and got ready for the drive to Puri.
7:15- Had yummy butter roti for breakfast.
9:00- Reached the holy town of Puri parked our car and rushed our way into the Jagannath Temple.
After a lot of pushing and shoving we went inside the main area. The idol looked very different compared to the ones here. The eyes were unusually big and bright. Drank white colored drink made of rice (tasted like butter milk), bought prashad and returned to the Car Parking area.
12:00- Reached the lotus resort in Konark. Freshened up and left to the Konark temple.
While we left the room, a small snake was slithering over the roof, by the time i took out my camera, sadly it disappeared within the thatched roof.
14:00- Had lunch at Konark, the Fish Butter Masala was awesome.
14:45- Entered the Konark temple.
<I'll update the details of the temple in the next blog post>
17:00- Reached the Konark beach to check out the International Sand Art festival. To our disappointment the festival had just ended a day before and all the art was demolished by a bulldozer.
19:30- Had awesome tandoori fish and chicken 65. Enjoyed the cool breeze outside and clicked some star while prabal painted the chef.
Day 3- 7/DEC/2015
6:30- Crossed the river to reach the sea to view the amazing sunrise. Found a couple of local people who fished in the morning for an hour and served the Indian government later in the day.
8:00- Had heavy breakfast, poori, dosa, idli, vada, egg omelette+boiled, corn flakes etc
11:15- Reached Sipakuda and started our boat journey.
13:00- Reached Chilika Sea Mouth and ordered two freshly caught fish. They just fried it with salt, turmeric and chilly powder. The taste was out of this world.
12:00- Came back to Sipakuda and started our journey back to Bhubaneswar.
Met this cute young kid, who was prabal's niece. She was so active and full of energy. Her smile made us forget the our tiredness.
The drive was amazing, one thing i missed was my 90 PS engine :P
Day4- 8/DEC/2015
10:00- Prabal dropped me to Udayagiri Jain Caves on the way to his work. It was really nice to explore the place alone.
12:30- Took Uber back to Prabal's house.
2:00 - Finished lunch then Took Uber to New Marrion Hotel to attend Kusmanjali's wedding.
Met Mandal and Roshan there.
6:00 - Went out for snacks.
8:00 - The bride arrived as silently as a leopard stalking its prey. She was very lazy to pose for the pics. Had to google myself for sample wedding poses and suggested her to pose. Well one thing that became clear was, she was better of writing C Code than posing for Pics. Thanks to the Other photographer (Whom i am not supposed to name :P ) for the focus lights, the pics came out good.
10:00 - The snacks we had earlier made us to eat late. While we were munching the groom came in along with the barath!!! We were expecting someone to inform us while they arrived, but none did. So i missed my chance of being part of a barath.
Day5 - 9/DEC/2015
1:15 - The wedding went on and on. The must win Manu - Wolsfburg ,atch gave me a break. Watched the entire match, which we lost and out of champions leauge.
3:00 - The wedding was still on. Some were struggling to keep their eyes open, while others dozed off.
4:00 - It as finally done. Kusmanjali was married to Chinmaya.
5:00 - Went back to sleep.
12: Took flight back to bangalore 6E- 492.
Superb pics I can say......
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