Puri is one of my favourite holiday destinations and of course my favourite sea beach. Golden sunshine, miles of yellow sand, blue waves and white surf. Under an umbrella, sipping green coconut water. This is Puri beach.
It is a pleasure to swim here, as the sea is shallow for almost a mile. Very near the beach huge waves come rolling in - ideal for surf riding This city by the sea is one of the four main Hindu pilgrim centers in India and is famous for its Jagannath temple. Millions of devotees flock to this holy place every year to participate in the Rath Yatra or ??Car festival??. This annual ritual spreads over the entire summer and monsoon seasons making the most fruitful period to visit Puri. Puri is 60 km from Bhubaneswar and one can reach by direct trains from Howrah(Puri Express), New Delhi(Nilachal, Purushottam, Rajdhani) or Mumbai.
I have a special association with Puri right from my Student days. When I was doing my MBA from XIMB , Bhubaneswar I along with five other friends used to go Puri almost every weekend. Early in the morning we used to start our bike - driving along the highway from BBSR to Puri, taking the route to Konark and Chanrdabhaga(another sea beach near to Konarak) through marine drive road- memories are really stored in the pages of my mind and today whenever we meet and look at the pages of our photoalbum they do taste like old wine...
The first thing we used to do once we reach puri was to jump into the water and play with the waves as long as you can. Once you feel tired just sit back on the beach and look at the giant blue while enjoying Puri?s famous ??rasgulla?? and ??Chamcham?? or ??Khaja?? available at the sea beach itself. For once you will forget all about your busy -routine and artificial life style.
Although once in Puri I never used to leave the sea beach area but for a first time visitor you may choose to see the famous Jagannath temple. But do avoid the Pandas and deal with them cautiously. Don?t forget to visit the places like Konarak, Bhubaneswar, Khandgiri and dhwalgiri and my favourite nandankanan. If you take my suggestion don?t go for the travel services availbale in a large number with lots of interesting promises. Rather it is advisable to rent your own vehicle and book it for the whole day. If you going to Nandankanan don?t forget to see the ??safari?? inside. That is real charm of nandankanan.
The beach goes festive on occasions like??Kartik Purnima?? i.e. the full moon day of the lunar month of Kartik when Hindus gather here in the early morning to take a holy deep and pray sea God. The five days long Beach Festival in the months of February is very popular in the Festival calendar.
Puri has a different beauty at night and if it is a full moon day the atmosphere becomes heavenly. lastly, Dont forget to select your hotel near the sea beach ....for the purpose Orissa govermment?s panthaniwas is also a wise choice.