I did this from Puri so the travel cost was less, only 200 per person (up and down). Here I have the given the cost estimate for 2 persons including the food expenses and the entry fees (which is minimal).
Bhubaneswar is a good option for a family trip. Its "a day with your family" kind of place. We started in the morning from Puri. Its about 1.5 hrs journey by bus, lesser by car.
My first stop was the State Museum. As you all know museums mostly take a lot of time, so I wanted to finish it fresh. It becomes a little less interesting when you are tired. There are 11 gallerias in the museum, viz., Archaeology, Contemporary art, Epigraphy, Numismatic, Arms and ammunition, Art and craft, Mining & Geology, Anthropology, Sanskrit manuscript, Patta painting. The State Museum will nicely take you through Odisha. Kudos to the Superintendent of the State Museum and the Cultural Affairs Department, Government of Odisha, for keeping this place beautiful unlike some other state museums. You will get to know a lot about the cultures and traditions of Odisha from this place. Though the State Museum takes you through some glimpses of the tribal life in Odisha, one can also visit the Tribal Museum for more details into the tribal life of the state. I didn't put it in my itinerary, but its pretty much doable within the same day, you just have to start early. The best thing about the State Museum is that photography is allowed here with permission. Most of the galleries are well kept except for the mining and geology one.
The next stop in my itinerary was the Lingaraja temple. Coming to the temple city and not witnessing a temple architecture will surely not be in your dairy! I chose this one because of its lauded architecture.
Photography isn't allowed inside the temple, so I have just shown some of the pictures depicting the outskirts of the temple. I was really astounded by the architecture of the central tower, stone carvings in an 180 feet tall structure.
Situated in the heart of the city, Ram mandir is another popular temple in the city. I have visited this temple earlier. Its like other big temples amidst a big city, restoring the serenity in the hustle and bustle of the city life. The architecture is good, you can complete it in 0.5 hrs. Many of the temples in Odisha are colourful and mostly have a great architecture.
Another famous one is the Muktesvara temple. The stylistic development of the Mukteswar marks the culmination of all earlier developments, and initiates a period of experiment which continues for an entire century, as seen in such temples as the Rajarani Temple and Lingaraj temple of Bhubaneswar (credit : wikipedia). Since you are at the temple city, I am providing the other temple-options which are worth paying a visit to, if time permits.
My next stop was the infamous Udaygiri and Khandagiri caves. I always try this logic of keeping the best one for the last :D.
The Archaeological Survey of India has listed this site in the list of "Must See" Indian heritage. Udaygiri is where the Sun rises, but I actually got to witness the Sun-set here.
The top of the Khandagiri caves gives a serene view of the temple city. These caves will definitely intrigue you. You can have some awesome photographs here. This place was my favorite in Bhubaneswar, plus its not that difficult to climb the cave-top and the climb is 100% worth it.
The Udaygiri hill top is a culmination of the caves and temples. On the top is the Digambar Jain temple. The insides of the caves were tall enough to fit a standing (wo)man inside it. Yes, I did measure it :D!
I spoke with the locals here and I was quite happy with my itinerary. The only note-worthy place which they mentioned and not present in my list was the Nandankanan Zoological Park.
The trip started in the State Museum at about 12 noon and ended at about 6 pm outside the Udaygiri caves.
Happy Bhubaneswar! :)
Insights compiled by & from Aparajita's and her mother's visit to the temple city!
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