The Lord's Leela (play) is strange...Was supposed to have gone to Dubai, for a short holiday to spend some time with my eldest daughter. Realized that my passport was expiring, so I decided to take the opportunity to visit Jagannath Puri instead.

There are 4 dhaams that every devout Hindu is expected to visit. They are: Badrinaath in the North of India, Rameshwaram in the South of India (You will find photos in my facebook and in my blog) Dwarika in the West and jagannath Puri in the East.
Called up Sham who is enthusiastic,about Spiritual travel, Asked him if he would take me to Puri and in the next breath he said: "Yes Aunty, I will do all the arrangements, you just print out your ticket"
God bless him. His lovely daughter joined us for the trip.

To come back to the story of Dhaams. I had visited the other 3 Dhaams so I was keen on visiting Puri. I am told that in the olden days, people would set out to visit the 4 dhaams after they had completed their responsibilities. They would say: "Good bye to their family members with the fear that they may never return! Travel in those day was not a flying matter!

On the way to Puri, visited the Udaigiri Caves. Actually a palace with caves for visiting monks, and also a place for song and dance! Talk about living a full life!

In Bhubhaneshwar visited the Lingraj Temple.
Would not Shivji prefer a clean and quiet spot where people pray, rather than people constantly breaking coconuts and pouring cold water and milk over Him making it pretty slippery for the very same devotees? But then that is between Shivji and His Bhaktas. Who am I to give an opinion?


Saw the place where the War of Kalinga was fought. After seeing the carnage, King Ashok had a change of heart and spent the rest of his life propagating peace and Buddhism.
Saw the edicts of Ashok. Quite a delightful place actually!

I have no words to describe the Sun Temple in KOnark. One can 'see' the exact time of day through the shadow the finger throws when placed in the centre of the wheel! I was in awe at the 'bright brain'of Ancient Indians!

In one of the photographs you will see the idols of the 9 planets. We did a short puja there.

We spent a night at the Lotus cottages near Konark. The cottages were very pretty and small, but clean. The Ocean that you see in the photograph has history. The river and Ocean have a sangam (meet).
The Tsunami hit there, and the bridge and wall collapsed. You can still see the stones of the broken road in the sea!


We had no time to change into our traditional Indian clothes when we reached Puri. So the Guards thought we are not Hindus and as such were denied entry. After showing them our identity cards, they allowed us in. They invited us to have a prasaad luncheon and Visit Jagannathji, Subhadra, and Balram (The 3 Divine siblings)not one Darshan but two times.
Chuckled at the ways of the Lord. How can Krishna let us return home without some teasing on His part!
I feel blessed.