Revisiting Puri

May is always hot and humid in our side of the globe. So when a long weekend knocks the door one always prefer to run towards the hill stations.

However when you have only 72 hours in hand and a quintessential urge of driving on the highways Puri pops up in mind.

Almost all bongs are familiar with "DiPuDa" , being Digha-Puri-Darjeeling , so on this quick weekend getaway we decided to revisit the ever enchanting Neelachal, Puri.

We started from Kolkata around 6 AM on the morning of 26th May 2018 and with one pit stop for breakfast near Jaleswar drove to reach Puri around 3PM in the afternoon. The roads were known from our previous journeys to the place and hence it was a butter smooth drive without any hiccups.

This time our accommodation was in the ChakraTirtha Road area which was kind of first for us, as usually we stayed in and around the vicinity of Swargadwar. Having said that, once we checked in and gorged on some delicious late lunch, we decided to try out the beach in front and thus realized this section of the beach is comparatively less crowded.

Being in Puri and enjoying a less crowded beach(in comparison) is indeed amusing, it was around 5 in the evening, lovely breeze accompanied

by the sweet sound of continuous waves made the water splashes more exciting. The scorching heat of the summer sun has faded away and thus giving us the opportunity to swim and play along the waves.

If observed carefully one might experience that this blue water shore line adorned by its golden sandy beach is a natural healer, peace and merry maker . When you come to it after a certain gap you are bound to feel the happy hormones charging through the bloodstream.

Looking around you see that its not just you but as a whole the entire herd of people all around are in synch with you in matters of momentary happiness.

Will let the below few snaps do the talking.

We stayed and watched the sun gradually bid us good bye for the day, the gulls flying back following the same. Observed a group of brave fisherman start venturing into the sea with a hope to return with a bounty of fish in the next morning. Watched the colorful flying flags , probably having some religious meaning next to lined up multicolored wooden boats meant for fishing.

Eventually spending another few hours in the sand and around the water we decided to head back to our hotel. Post an early dinner we called it a day.

Next morning it was time for visiting Him, The Lord Jagannath. The local autorickshaw dropped us about half a kilometer away from the temple premises and we had to walk between the bustling street known as the Temple Road. Like us there were thousands of pilgrims who has come to pay their respect to the Lord on a Sunday morning. Even the scorching summer morning is unable to deter them from seeking a Darshan . The walk to the temple is itself an experience. You will walk among pilgrims, along honking rickshaws, beeping locals on cycles and scooters, meanwhile you will be able to hear announcements in the local Odiya language coming from temple offices all along when you will see near by stalls with variety of items ready for you for sale, starting from drinking water bottles to bronze and galvanized steel utensils and what not that you need in your day to day life.

The famous Rath Yatra of Puri , is just a few days away and we could see the grand chariot which will undertake the blessed task of carrying the Lord and his siblings, at a work in progress status.

So most of us have been to this temple and are aware this is an orthodox Hindu temple where there are several rules and regulations for one who enters the premises. For instance, any electronic device is a strict no - no here, so you have to submit all your electronic gadgets , mobiles , cameras et al. You may keep them in one of the several kiosks available who keeps your gadgets for a small amount and in turn gives you a number token which you have to show while you are there to claim your belongings. You have to go barefoot inside the temple, and there are kiosks who give a safe guard to your footwear.

Outside the main entrance, there usually happens to be serpentine queues of devotees. Each and every individual has to be a part of that queue and are checked by Police authorities , separate queues do exist for men and women and the time you need to spend here in the queue depends on the time of the day. Imagine you are a part of this queue, when you are in no way connected to the world, yes at that moment you are not carrying your mobile phone. You see everyone before and after you are at that very moment focused on the forward movement of the queue. The forward movement does happen slow and steadily. Once you are validated by the cops and the metal detectors you are allowed to go inside the temple.

However, it is recommended before you go in, you should wash your feet and hands in the water supply provided by the temple right outside the main entrance.

The below picture shows two aspect of faith, on the left are the folks who are either awaiting in line waiting for a chance to get into the temple or preparing to get into the line and on the right side of the frame are the ones who probably a couple of hours(or more) back was in the left phase, but are now heading back from the temple after a successful "Darshan and Pooja". For us it took about two and a half hours.

Reminds me of the famous Tagore song, "তোমার হল শুরু আমার হল সারা"( You begin when mine is done You and me unitedly fulfill the flow. )

Not going into the spiritual or historical details of this temple we will move to the next phase of our journey,

by the time we left the Temple premises it was time for lunch , however we decided to push it back for a late lunch somewhere near Konark.

Reached back to our room , got freshened up as quickly as possible and by 2:30 PM we started for the Konark Sun Temple which google maps showed can be reached in less than 1 hour from our hotel. At this point , the usual members of Spinning Wheels (Me and Wify, Sourav and Sonali) were accompanied by my good friend Gourab and his Wife , they were already in Puri a day before we reached, and as we all know in a trip , the more the merrier.

Plan was to reach Konark and have lunch, by the time lunch was over the late afternoon sun will be bearable enough to revisit the Konark Temple.

So now coming to the condition of Puri-Konark Marine drive, the roads are very well maintained and it being a marine drive, you get to drive by the beautiful blue sea. The famous Chandrabhaga Sea beach falls in this circuit and its a must for a pit stop.

Once you reach Konark you will have to park your car about 300 meters away from the temple and you should walk to the temple (The autowalas will charge 40 bucks in case you want to hail a ride, but one should avoid it).

We were famished and gorged on to that late lunch from a OTDC restaurant opposite the main entrance of the temple and food was good !

Once that was sorted, it was time for checking out the magnificent architecture of this place.

Few pictures of what we saw and skipping the descriptions which either all of us know or is easily available over the internet and history books.

Beautiful artwork here at this Sun temple will fill you up with pride about the thought that this all belongs to the country where you belong. Once an engineering marvel is now a reminder of the glorious past era that this place had once seen.

As the Sun was going down we decided to pack things here and check out the Chandrabhaga beach once more on the return journey.

In about 10 minutes we reached an isolated spot on the marine drive and enjoyed the bliss of an almost empty beach.

Unplanned quick getaways are those events in our life which adds a dash of flavor to our mundane existence. Its like hitting that reset button of your router when you are experiencing packet losses. One click to that button and you get back your connectivity without fear of any loosing packet.

All while you travel, you realize the importance of journey, cause that is what matters, you know that Life is Beautiful while you look at it from a different vantage point.For instance, on our way back home met a young at heart septuagenarian pan Indian Truck Driver(actually hails from Pune) while we stopped for a tea break somewhere around ChandiKhol. He was inquisitive enough to ask us where we were going and given the information he applauded us for our free spirited nature. We were stunned to know his Son is a graduate from IIT KGP and daughter is a pass-out from NIT Durgapur and currently working in reputed MNCs is Bangalore. Yet he is still into driving trucks and is currently on way to Paradweep. I could not resist myself from asking, Sirjee why are you still working ? He smiled and said, "Mera beta bhi mujhse kehta hai, papa abhi retirement lelo , lekin insaan ko taab taak kaam karna chaiye jab tak wo kaar sake " and burst into laughter. I wondered what would have been my thought process if I were to switch positions. This person inspired me that day on the aspect that you are who you are till you are able and alive. With his permission I took a picture which I will be sharing here, a Big Shout Out to you Sir for being such an inspiration !

These are experiences and encounters you only get when you reach outside your comfort zone, glad we stopped over that tea stall that day.

So time to wrap up, thanks for your patience, wishing everyone all the best and signing off from Spinning Wheels, Chao !