The Bay of Bengal

the beach at Puri
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I arrived early morning from the overnight train from Kolkata. I hadn't booked a room so looked in LP for ideas. I headed straight for Hotel Ghandara as it sounded fine and I was pleased, so took a room. I couldn't be bothered traipsing up and down looking for a room. After freshening up and unpacking I had brekkie and then went for a wander.

Puri is situated on the coast, so I started with the beach. The beach was nice and big with lovely golden sand. There were a few India taking a dip in the sea or just sitting on the sand. The waves were quite big. The sea is called Mahodadhi - the Bay of Bengal. It was nice to be by the sea and take in the fresh air. This was my fist time on the coast of India. I took a few pics of the sea and went to find the bus station. I was heading for a nearby town called onark, where there is a famous temple - The Sun Temple.

the rain
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The bus station was a 20 minute walk and I was just in time for a bus to Konark. It was a small bus and got full pretty quick. I had a seat as I was one of the first to get on. The drive to Konark took 30 minutes and was further up the coast (36km), so we could see the sea for most of the journey. It had started to rain though. When I arrived in Konark I went to get a cuppa to stay out of the rain. Good job I did as the rain got heavier and it absolutely tipped it down. Luckily I had my brolley with me, but I stayed in the cafe until the rain eased up.

the Sun Temple at Konark
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The cafe was across the road from the Sun Temple, so  didn't have far to walk. I went to get my entrance ticket and a guide approached me, but I wasn't interested. I quite like wondering around myself at my own pace and imagining what the statues are all about. So off I went to look around.

The Sun Temple was constructed as a Chariot of the Sun God - Surya and was built in the 13th century by an Orissan king - King Langula Narasingh Deva. 1200 architects helped in 12 years. The height of the temple is 228 feet and has 24 wheels and 7 horses (representing the days of the week) carved. The wheels signify 24 hours and each has 8 spokes which signify 8 prahars (3 hour periods) of the day. There are 3 forms of the Sun God. The southern side called the "Mitra" is described as the Rising Sun, the Western side called "Punsan" is described as the Middy Sun and the Northern side called "Haritasva" is described as the Setting Sun. There are 2 lions in front of the main gate of the temple. The lion is seen as pressing down on an elephant, whioch has caught hold of a man. There are 2 War Horses in front of the southern side of the temple. They are depicted with having massive strength and trampling down a warrior. This figure of war has been accepted as the symbol of the state government of Orissa. Many of the carvings around the temple present Kalinga life and shows life and love in the carvings. The Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore was so moved by the beauty of the temple that he said: "Here the language of man is defeated by the language of the stone"

the lion statue at the Sun Temple
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The temple is impressive and I spent a long time walking round, taking pics and looking at all the various carvings. There were some erotic ones as well as normal day to day life types. The temple isn't used for anything as the main cupola has ben ruined leading to the collapse.  The rain was on and off, but wasn't too heavy. I headed back to the bus stop to head back to Puri.It was just too miserable to be out. Again my timing was lucky as a bus was waiting to head back to Puri and again I got a seat. I got a rickshaw back to the hotel as it was raining heavily by the time I got back. I didn't have a TV in my room, but the hotel had a library of books, so I borrowed one and chilled in my room with that and a pot of tea. The rain didn't stop at all. By 8pm I had finished the book, so I ordered dinner in my room, ate and got ready for bed.

gateway to the Sun Temple
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The next morning I checked out and went to see the famous Jagannath Temple in Puri, which is a pilgrim site for hindus. It is one of the 4 main holy centres (Dhamas) of India. This temple belongs to Jagannath, the Lord of the Universe and the incarnation of Vishnu. The presiding deities in the temple are Lord Balabhadra (brother), Goddess Subhadra (sister) as well as Lord Jagannath. The 3 deities are known as the Trimurthi (Trinity). The trio are seated in a stone pedestal called Ratnavedi in the sanctum. The idols are made of neemwood. The temple is guarded by 2 stone lions and a pillar crowned by the Garuda at the eastern side, which once stood at the the Sun Temple. The 3 other gates of the temple - southern,western & northern are guarded by statues of men on horseback, tigers and elephants. I did enter inside the temple to have a look, but no photos were allowed to be taken, which was a shame because it was amazing inside. There were loads of people gathered inside so it was difficult to get up close to the deities. I went in as far as I dared and then escaped. It was too hot to be up in amongst all the people. I got all my stuff together and got a rickshaw to the bus station to get the bus to Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa.