For centuries now, the Puri beach has been the venue of countless pilgrims taking the traditional purification dip. Yet, for decades now, both Indian and foreign beach-lovers have made it their special haunt.

The crashing surf on one of India's finest beaches is a glorious sight, as is the visual of hatted fisherfolk guiding tourists through the magnificent breakers rolling in from the Bay of Bengal. It would be best not to be too adventurous since the undertow can be a bit treacherous. The spectacle of dazzling sunsets and the catamarans dipping on the pearly waters are terrific memories to take back home.

An additional bonus is its proximity to the spectacular Jagannath temple, one of the holiest temples in the country. The beach is also the venue for the famous dance and music festival held every year at the beach.

The Blue Lagoon
Spread over an area of 1,100-sq-km, the glorious stretch of the Chilika is Asia's largest brackish water lake. Home to thousands of colourful birds throughout the year, it is particularly noisy with the din of the raucous influx of migratory birds who descend on it from as far off as Siberia in winter.

A real paradise for bird watchers, Chilika offers visitors a spectacular display of its colourful avian charms in a thousand different hues. The white bellied sea eagle, the grey-legged geese, the peach coloured flamingoes, purple moorhen, jacana and heron-all mingle in a flurry of crested feathers and mind-blowing grace.

Best Time To Visit
The nicest time to visit Chilika is during winter, when the lake reverberates with din of its avian population. Boats, to tour the lake, can be hired at Balugan Barkul and Rambha. One can persuade the local fisher-folk to take you on one of their native wooden boats.

Cruising on Chilika
There are motor launches of OTDC Ltd. available at Barkul and Ramba. The Revenue Department also maintains some boats at Balugaon. One can also hire country boats from private operators at these places and at Satapada as well.

These three hills and their environs comprise a remarkable Buddhist complex. HiuenT' sang, the Chinese Pilgrim found it to tbe the seat of a flourishing Buddhist University called 'Puspagiri'.

Extensive ruins of brick pagodas, sculptured stone portals and esoteric Buddhist images testifying its ancient glory, have been unearthed. Ratnagiri is the gem of this complex. The two large monasteries here flourished from 6th to 12th centuries AD. The magnificently carved doorjamb of the Vihar and the superbly finished Buddha images form perhaps the greatest concentration of the post-Gupta period Buddhist sculptures