Bhubaneswar is known as 'City of Temples' and is surrounded by many beautiful tourist places from forts, sanctuaries, waterfalls to beaches. Billions of tourist from the globe come here to witness the city's glory and exquisite attractions. If you are planning to visit the town then here is a quick guide and list for You where you can spend your weekend and make it enjoyable.

Puri :

image by Sambit 1982, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

 As many of us know that Puri is famous sacred place known for Shri Lord Jagannath's temple and devotees from the globe throng here to participate in annually held 'Rath Yatra'. Beside this Puri is also famous for many other temples, beautiful sandy beaches such as Puri beach, Swargadwar beach, Balighai beach, Beleswar beach, and Golden beach. You can plan your visit to Puri throughout the year as the climate of the town is quite pleasant. 

Udaygiri: 

image by © Asitjain / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

 These are 26 rock-cut caves located at 7.2 km from Bhubneswar and one of the amazing tourist place to be visited. Out of 26 caves one cave is dedicated to Jainism and rest to Hinduism. They are the only site that can be verifiable associated with a Gupta period monarch from its inscriptions.

Konark:

Sun Temple, Konark

Gopalpur: 

One of the busiest beach in Gopalpur image by Jagadhatri, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

It is a coastal town located in Odisha. Being a coastal town it is famous for sea tourism and water sports like wind surfing, scuba diving, rowing, water scooter and more. Best time to visit the Gopalpur is October to March. 

Bhubaneswar airport is the nearest airport to reach Gopalpur. If you are planning to reach here by train then Berhampur is the nearest railway station. 

Keonjhar : 

Gundichaghagi Waterfall at Keonjhar, Odisha

It is one of the largest districts in Orissa and blessed with many splendid tourist attractions. This place is complete package for travel enthusiast. Here are few of most beautiful places where you can spend your vacation. 

Sanghagara waterfalls, Kandadhar waterfalls and Bada Ghagara waterfalls these are famous waterfalls near Bhubaneswar as wel Temple at Ghatagaon, Gonasika, Gundichaghai, Bhimkund, etc are also places to visit.

You can reach Keonjhar easy by air, road and railway. Biju Pattanaik airport in Bhubaneswar is the nearest airport to Kendujhargarh rail-head is the nearest railway station if you are visiting through rail. So let's plan and explore the destination with a safe and secure cab ride in pocket friendly way.  

Ratnagiri: 

Entrance to Monastery, Ratnagiri image by G41rn8, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

 Ratnagiri is approximately 100 km away from the Bhubaneswar. It is an ancient Buddhist monastery and a part of the Orissa Buddhist Circuit. The site is very close to Udaygiri and it was  discovered after an excavation 1960. The site has beautiful carved doorway, spacious open courtyard, cells and verandah facing the courtyard.  

Nearest airport to reach Ratnagiri is Bhubaneswar where as Jaipur road and Bhubaneswar railway station are the nearest rail-head. You can easily plan your trip with a comfortable cab or taxi from Bhubaneswar or Kolkata

                                                 AERO India 2021                                                 

Yelahanka air base,  Bengaluru

Date : February 3 to 5

      Asia's largest air show and aviation exhibition, AERO celebrating its 13th edition with pride this year in Bengaluru since its inception. This biannual show lasts around three days and invites various companies aircraft manufacturers, national and international exhibitors over 400.  Since its inception in 1996, this air show has emerged as on of the vital event in aviation exhibitions.

The show is hosted by Ministry of Defence’s Defence Exhibition Organization. It's great business opportunities for manufacturers from aerospace and aviation industry to demonstrate their product. Citizens can visit the show and this year amidst the Covid19 pandemic situation all visitors have to follow few safety precautionary protocol along with carrying negative COVID-19 negative report taken 72 hours prior exhibition day. Before kindly confirm the show timings on Aero India's official website.

Ticket price for Aero India :

The tickets will be availble in two category(Business & ADVA) and it will be issued on limited first come first serve basis.

Business category: Price will be Rs.5000 for Indian nationals and $150 for foreign national for full day and for half day it will be Rs. 2500 and $75 for Indians and foreign nationals respectively.

ADVA: For other visitors visiting price will be Rs 1,000 for Indians and $40 for foreign nationals and for hafd day it will be Rs 500 and $20 for Indians and foreign nationals respectively.

If you are planning to visit the air show, reserve a cab online for a hassle free pick up and drop to the venue from your location. 

Many of you might have visited the sandy beautiful beaches, national forests and parks, wildlife sanctuaries, historical forts and many more tourist destinations and now might be planning and searching for new places to visit which are unique? Then you might like the idea of “jail tourism” Yes, you read it right because from 26th, January 2021 Maharashtra government started jail tourism in Pune's Yerawada jail. Many of us are curious and wondered about what prisoner's life in a  jail is like, right? Well, if you are interested in prison or jail tourism then now you can do so without committing a crime!  It’s something unique, isn’t it ?

The initiative has been launched by the Maharashtra state government with an aim to help students, all history enthusiasts and citizens to experience and be aware of our history at a nominal fee. 

 Located in the heart of Aasam and a World Heritage site is popular for the two-thirds of the world’s great one-horned rhinoceroses as well as Elephants, tigers,  panthers and various types of bird species. Kaziranga National park,

This park It is a favourite destination for nature and wildlife fanatics. 

There are many beliefs about the origin of the place name, it was renamed the "Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary" in 1950 by P. D. Stracey, the forest conservationist. Kaziranga park has been declared as a world heritage site in 1985 by UNESCO for its unique natural environment. The park is circumscribed by the Brahmaputra river and the park extends over a geographical area of 430 sq km.  

The park is divided into the four tourism ranges or zones, Western Range (Bagori), Central Range (Kohora), Burapahar Range, Eastern Range(Agaratoli)  

Elephant safaris and Jeep safari is the only way to explore and unfold the vigor and splendor of Kaziranga. Hiking is not allowed in the area to avoid unexpected encounter with large, dangerous wild animals.

Aside from the home to many spices, Kaziranga also has a varied ecosystem and mountains. Taking a wildlife safari will give ample opportunity to take glimpse of some of big animals.

Best time to visit :

The park is crowded between November to April of every year. Now it has reopened for tourist from 21st Oct. after COVID-19 lockdown.

Getting to Kaziranga :

Jorhat Airport is nearest airports which is 105 kms away. It is connected to Kolkata by good number of daily flights. At the airport you can hire a cab prior to your arrival to visit Kaziranga national park or can reach to bus stand which is approx. 23 km from there. 

By Railway : 

Furkating is the nearest railway station to Kaziranga park. It is well connected to major town such as Guwahati, Kolkata, Delhi. 

 By Road: 

NH37 will lead you to Kaziranga park. It has good connectivity with Guwahati, Tezpur, Jorhat, Nagaon, Golaghat, Dimapur, Tinisukia and Sivasagar. Either you can take a taxi from these cities or local transport services to reach park.