Konark ,Pipli and Dhauli

The next day was equally refreshing as the last one. We woke up early and went to the beach to enjoy the sunrise. The sunrise was enchanting - with clear waters, clean sands. To add to it, we had instant made tea on the beach. I liked the idea - the man carried a bucket full of water, a custom made bag, which could hold a vessel of milk, tea leaves, cups, sugar and a short stool to hold the stove. On getting the order, he instantly lit the kerosene stove and prepared the tea. We came back to the hotel at around 7.00 a.m, took some photographs of the hotel,got ready, had breakfast(which was included in the tariff of room rent) and checked out of the hotel. From there we went to Konark.

Konark - The road which links Puri and  Konark is called the marine drive and is by the sea. We enjoyed the cool breeze from the sea throughout.We stopped at the Chandrabhaga beach. It was as beautiful and as clean as the puri beach. But we reached there at noon and it was so sunny and glaring that, it hurt the eye. So we did decided not to spend more time there and made to the sun temple. The sun temple is also known as the black pagoda and is a UN world heritage site. The temple is built in the form of the chariot of the sun God Surya, drawn by seven horses and twelve wheels or chakras. Only one of the horses remain today. The entrance is guarded by two gigantic lions, crushing two elephants. The elephant in turn seems to be crushing a human.Opposite to the temple is the Natya mandir, where the dev dasis used to dance for the sun God.The carvings are very intricate and detailed, mostly of human forms. Floral,geometric patterns are also found all over the temple and in the Natya mandir. Remains of the dining hall and the chaya devi mandir(consort of God surya) can also be found on the site.Konark is famous for stone/rock sculpture. I shopped and bought a miniature temple and the Konark chakra. 

Konark sun temple

The dining hall

The Natya Mandir for Devdaasis

Note the Giraffe on right hand side

In one of the sculptures, we noticed a giraffe. All of us know that Giraffes are not of Indian origin. This sculpture, signifies, probably trade relations with South Africa.

From Konark, we started our way back. I was not hungry, due to having had a heavy breakfast,  hence skipped lunch. My husband and the driver had typical Odiya food in a hotel on the way back. Around two O clock, we reached Pipli.

Pipli: I was wondering if this is the same village as in Amir Khan's movie "Peepli Live". I was informed it was not :-). Of course, the spelling is also different. Pipli, is a small village on the Puri-Bhubaneshwar road. It is famous for a craft called "Äpplique work''. It is a  process of cutting coloured cloth into shapes of animals, birds, flowers,gods,and other decorative motifs and stitching them over a piece of cloth. The products vary from lamp shades, umbrellas, hand bags, bed spreads, cushion covers,wall hanging etc. I bought a wall hanging.I shall post the picture of the same after I mouth it on the wall.

From Pipli, we moved to Dhauli.

Buddha statue at the Stupa

Translation of the Rock Edicts

The Daya River

Dhauli is the site, where the Kalinga war was fought by Emperor Ashoka. It is next to river Daya- whose water is said to have turned red after the battle, from the blood of the soldiers. The sight of the red river melted the heart of Chanda Ashoka, made him repent and embrace Buddhism. Dhauli also houses the rock edicts of Ashoka's doctrine of Dharma. They are written in Prakrit - so I was not able to make head or tail out of them. There was a translation in English, thankfully. There is a Stupa - called the Shanti stupa, constructed by Japanese. It seems to be a recent construction.

That is it. Back to Bhubaneshwar. I heard that there are many interesting places in Bhubaneshwar as well. Due to shortage of time, we could not visit those. May be, I shall - in my next visit to Orissa.