City of Temples - Bhubaneswar

City of Bhubaneswar well known as city of Temples. City is full of ancient temples, beautiful sculptures, well laid road and very well planned city. There are very few cities in eastern India which can be compared with it. It is the only second city after Chandigarh that is planned and build this way.

Capital city
Bhubaneswar is the capital city of Orissa. City is well connected by all parts of the World. It is also known to be a part of Golden Triangle i.e Bhubaneswar, Puri and Konark. All the Government head offices are situated here and, it is a part of twin city Cuttack. City is well spread and divided into units and private Nagars.

Temples
Bhubaneswar is famous for its ancient temples which consists of Raja Rani, Lingaraj ( Only temple of its kind in whole India where Vishnu and Shiva both exits in form of Lingam, hence also called as hari hara temple & this temple consist of thousand Lingams) , Kedar Gouri, Mukteswar Temple, Khandagiri and Udayagiri ( Cave temple & Jain Temples like Famous Ajanta&Ellora) , Parasuramesvera Temple, Siddheswar, Dhauligiri, Mausimaa temples. Therefore the name City of temples is rightly said for Bhubaneswar.

River Daya
The famous Daya river where the last Kalinga War was fought & The Great Ashoka renounced his kingdom & converted himself into Buddhist built the famous Shanti Stupa at Dhaulagiri.

Nandankanan
The only its kind of an open Zoo with a breeding centre of White Tigers famous for itself in India. It is only 10 k.m from Bhubaneswar. At the adjacent it has a botanical garden.

City before super Cyclone
City of Bhubaneswar before super Cyclone in the year 1999 was totally Green with Trees both side of roads highway from Baramunda(City Bus stand) to Rasulgarh Square, rows and rows of trees were planted either side of the road. And when we used to travel this part in Summer also we used to feel cool. But the whole situation changed and after the cruel super cyclone, tore apart the city and made the city roads in to pot holes, electrical fittings were all broken and city looked lump and slow.

Change of Image
Bhubaneswar being city of temples simantaneously got transformation into High-Tech city of India. Last few years State Government under the able guidance of Mr.Naveen Pattnaik our (CM) took some great decisions and got MOU signed by big Industrial Houses both from inside and outside India. Number of industries have set up their units in Orissa and through which brought change in image from Poor to Industrial State. With this effect Bhubaneswar too changed its gear and got new face lift. It is no more only a city of temples, but a city of software development. Its pace increased and now you find Multiplex, Malls, big bazaars. New form of architectural buildings, large number of engineering, Management and Medical collages. With this effect the city boundry increased from Cuttack till Khurda. New residential colonies, multistoried complex have grown like mushroom. City which was considered rural city suddenly awakened as sleeping gaint and now the traffic increased many folds. Never in my life seen traffic jams , now inspite of wide roads, fly overs still the roads are getting jams. It shows the rate of population and number of vehicles that have added indicates the real growth. But to this pace when giant software industries stared constructing added new dimension to the city. It became a cosmopolitan city, with cross cultural influence and increase in per capital income has helped sprawling number of 5 star and 7 star hotels, restaurants, discos, bars, fast food joints, and other eating places. The eating habits of localites have too transformed. Business too changed into multifarious & no more localized.

Present Bhubaneswar
Bhubaneswar in past one year or so saw a new face lift. It is no more the city where you find pot hole on the roads but well wide laid roads, with dividers in middle , Garden on both side of roads. Kiosks placed in regular interval with in-build lighting system placed in the middle of roads. Street lights too are not left behind. Earlier Yellow (HPSV) street lights to White (Metal halide) street lights with that too with higher IP protection, decorative street light poles ,High Mast on almost all the major junctions with garden lights on both side of the road.

Theme based Landscaping
After the joining of lady Commissior Ms Aparajita Sarangi, I.A.S has literally changed the face of City and the office of BMC (Bhubaneswar Muncipal Corporation). She brought top planners, architects, engineers, painter ,sculptors and had a brain storming session and came out with new ideas. They have come with theme based landscaping where each road or garden has been developed on that basis. One theme was to merge stone carving with natural garden, where they have used the local stones and carved into beautiful sculptures like some stones carved as a giant greeting with two hands, water fountains that too with green stones all this on the road sides into a pleasurable place to visit and drive. Every where there is gardens, palm trees, decorative plants, green lawns and colourful flowers bloomed. At another place statues of animals, birds and garden emalgamated into oasis . They have painted all the side walls on both side of the roads with orissan art like pattachitra & madubani with local theme based pictures, Odissi dancers, pottery, tribal weapons, tribal dances, pictures of Konark temple, Dhauligiri Buddhist Monastry, in some place they have depicted oriyan cultures. This way all the roads have been decorated. Now Bhubaneswar seems as a beautiful bride who has been decorated for her wedding. New parking areas for cars and other vehicles. Separate walking space for pedestrians and cyclists.

International Airport
The city Airport now developed in to International Airport with all the latest amenities . With the in flow of tourists number of flights have increased to take care of the tourists.

Railway station
Railway station is also not left behind, all its platforms have been up graded , new flyover have been built. New lighting system have been installed, all the platforms have been provided with necessary modern amenities .

Latest Traffic system
New and latest traffic system have been installed with new look traffic police men and women with new gear all these have made the traffic flow smooth and safe.

So Bhubaneswar has really changed to face the latest industrial and population growth. It has geared it self to face any challenges. In my opinion Bhubaneswar is still most safe place to live. All the religion stay together peacefully and enjoy each other festivals and traditions. There is absolutely no danger of communal disturbance, even today people live the life of their choice. Bhubaneswar the city of peace & calm a new dimension for many business houses to venture & get their share of profit. It is the only High-tech city which is planned.