Odisha

Odisha has been producing the finest sculpture in the Indian subcontinent since the 2nd century BC and the finest woven silk since the 14th century AD, and both traditions are still functioning — the temples at Bhubaneswar still being carved, the Sambalpuri weavers still working — in a continuity that most Indian craft traditions lost several generations ago.

Konark's Sun Temple, built in the 13th century as a stone chariot on twenty-four carved wheels drawn by seven horses, is one of the most formally ambitious buildings ever attempted in India. Oriented to receive the first rays of the sun through its eastern gateway and built from khondalite stone that turns golden in dawn light, it was designed to function as an astronomical instrument as much as a religious monument.

The Jagannath temple at Puri, one of the four dhams of Hinduism, receives over five million pilgrims annually. Its kitchen — the largest in India — feeds up to 50,000 people a day in a tradition of collective feeding that began in the 12th century and has never stopped, its 56-dish mahaprasad prepared in clay pots on wood fires by cooks whose families have been doing this work for generations.

Places to Visit in Odisha

• Jagannath Temple, Puri
• Konark Sun Temple
• Chilika Lake
• Bhubaneswar temple cluster

Things to Do in Odisha

• Sun Temple architecture tour
• Chilika Lake dolphin watching
• Odissi dance performance