Puri Konark marine drive road trip
Puri konark marine drive road trip and puri Konark marine drive beach is about exploring temples along exquisite offbeat beaches near Puri. The East coast of India starts from Odisha of which the Mahanadi delta constitutes a major geographical feature in India. It is known as the Emerging coast and receives more rainfall. It is more wider and fertile than the Western coast of India. Besides the geographical features it also hold some famous tourist places in this country . Of which Puri is one of the most important pilgrimage centre for the Indians. The blog explains about the best road trip in odisha which is Puri Konark marine drive road trip and views of puri konark marine drive beach.
Puri is a 6 hour drive from my residential township in Odisha so I frequently visit to this holy pace time and again. This time in the monsoon I decided to explore the coastal marine drive from Konark to Puri and reach to some distant rural beaches of Odisha along the marine drive. I kept in mind the spiritual connection that this state always offers to me along with the vast coastline to enjoy the sea breeze.
Introduction to Puri konark marine drive.
I started for Puri konark marine drive road trip after breakfast at 10:00 in the morning. And soon reached to a holy temple ,a 45 minutes drive from Puri. A sea beach with an unique landscape accompanied with a holy shrine is very much common in Odisha. Ramchandi beach lying on the Marine drive to Puri is one such example.
While in the first picture you can see a clear difference of the two colours of water which determines the conjunction of Kushabhadra river into the mighty Bay of Bengal. The still water in front of us creates a sand island where we can see the distant waves marks the significant nature of the landscape in Ramchandi beach.
Ramchandi beach in puri konark marine drive road
Apart from it’s scenic beauty the beach is famous among the tourists for the Ramchandi temple. Here Goddess Ramchandi is worshipped as a primary deity ,while others believe the temple belongs to Mayadevi,wife of the Sun God. Right at the entrance of the temple a huge banyan tree stands garlanded with numerous red prayer cloths .
The branches of the tree looks majestic in red cloths while the white colour temple welcomes us to the place of worship. The pandas inside the temple offers beautiful decorated venerations made with different varieties of colourful flowers for puja.
The incense sticks, glowing candles ,worship bells and the Sanskrit chants from the pujaris create a spiritual experience. Therefore it enhances a different sort of experience along with the sound of the waves from the nature. Surely this is a must visit place in this Marine drive route. It which provides a subtle philosophical experience for a traveller coming to Puri Konark marine drive road trip.
View of Puri to konark marine drive road.
Welcome to the Grand Marine drive of Odisha. This is a must drive for all road trippers in this country to get the feeling of driving closest to the sea. The road is smooth providing numerous food joints along the highway.
The road stretches from the famous Sun temple in Konark till the farthest beach of Puri. One can have the best view of this highway along the 5 km stretch from Chandrabhaga towards Puri to konark. There are numerous unexplored beaches of the Eastern coast that lies along this highway. Therefore that is why perhaps most of the visitors do neglect owing to the major tourism attached with Puri.
However between the highway and the beach an elevated portion of landmass of yellow sand runs parallel to the sea from where one can get such mesmerizing views of a perfect road trip.
Chandrabhaga in Puri konark marine drive road trip:-
India is a vast country with thousands of sea beaches owing to its huge coastline. Bordering the Bay of Bengal in the East and the Arabian sea in the west ,both then converging to the Indian Ocean in the south.
Therefore despite the huge population of this versatile country along the coastline, a road tripper can still find a number of lonely beaches where the unpolluted sea water looks much more blue, capitalizing the effect of a changing sky.
Puri konark marine road trip provides similar experiences for a traveller along the mighty Bay of Bengal. The sand here is devoid of any plastics and the waves are wild. They are crushing on the numerous lonely sea shores that provides a majestic view of a landscape devoid of any crowd.
At the end of the shore of Chandrabhaga beach we reach the sea mouth. Here the two rivers Chandra and Kushabhadra river meet in the Bay of Bengal. There are numerous motor boats which will charge rs 800 and take the tourists to a nearby island . Here one can stand in between the confluence of the river and the sea.
Astaranga beach in puri to konark route
After a delicious typical Odiya lunch in Konark I proceeded towards further north.
It is always rare to find a completely lonely beach around Puri. But thanks to the Google maps and with a little help from the localites I did find an unpopulated beach . It is 67 kms from Puri. Puri konark marine drive indeed brings to us the most scenic eastern coastline.
Astaranga beach in offbeat places near puri
Astaranga beach is a major site for the Olive Ridley turtles and so the beach is always guarded by a forest government office. The backwater from the sea create numerous ponds in the localities . This however help the local fishermen to breed lobsters and fishes in the monsoon lakes. The drive through the rural villages and then stopping in front of a park surrounded by casuarina trees gives us an exhilarating experience of a countryside beach which still remains unexplored even to people of Odisha.
Although I found out few people travelling in big “Travellers” into this place and doing a picnic inside the park of casuarina trees on the beach. Now the government should take necessary steps to keep the area clean as such frequent gatherings in the form of picnics do makes this clean beach into a pile of plastics.
Till now the beach looks very clean and the waves are much wild owing to the strong winds blowing in this part of Odisha. In the western part of India, such lonely beaches provide a calm sea to us but owing to the violent wind speeds in the Bay of Bengal the waves are more unsafe on such beaches in the eastern coast of India.
So any tourists trying to visit this beach must be careful while taking bath, as the seashore is also much deeper. The beach is also corresponding with a famous Sufi shrine built in 15th century A.D situated at the entry to the beach. The rich history and myth associated with the shrine is famous among tourists visiting Astaranga beach.
Temple in Kakatpur in offbeat places near Puri
As we returned by the same route we visited the famous Maa Mangala Devi temple in Kakatpur. The temple was built in 15 th century and is a cultural heritage of the ancient Kalinga Dynasty. While the mythical history associated with this temple dates back to the Ramayana era.
The temple is richly associated with the Lord jagannath temple in Puri. When Nabakalabera arrives (“time to change the wood of the three dieties Lord Jagannath,Balabhadra and Subhadra“),the priests come here to pray to Maa Mangala to find the direction to find the tree from which the three primary idols of Lord Jagannath temple in Puri will be constructed.
Maa mangala devi is idiolized in Odisha in the form of SHAKTI or manifestations of Goddess Durga. Inside the main temple complex, photography is not allowed. But the numerous magnificent architecture of the shrines and the statue of the other dieties will keep any eager tourist engaged in his spiritual time. Astaranga sea beach is a major destination ,which is not very far away from the famous puri konark marine drive.
Besides these majestic places there is the famous Sun temple in Konark which is a UNESCO world heritage site in India. But I want to visit such offbeat places along with the Puri to Konark Marine drive and I do believe there are more unexplored places that the East coast of Odisha can offer to us.
A note of advice to all the readers to go through the rich historical facts associated with the sea beaches and temples and then visit these places to get connected with the spiritual significance of this road trip.
Frequently asked questions( FAQ)
How much is Puri Konark Marine drive road distance?
The Puri Konark Marine drive road runs parallel to the Bay of Bengal for a distance of 35 kms.
Which is the best hotel in Puri Marine drive road?
Lotus Eco resort Konark in Puri Marine drive road is the best hotel to stay in Puri Konak Marine drive route. Further moving on towards Puri, New Empires hotel Puri is the best hotel to stay in Puri Marine drive road.
How to travel from Puri to Konark?
You can avail OSRTC or any private bus and reach Konark Puri via Marine drive. Nearest railway station to Konark sun temple is Puri.
How much is Puri to Konark to Chilika distance?
Puri to Konark via Marine drive distance is 35 kms. Konark to Chilika lake distance is 61 kms.
How much is Puri to Konark temple taxi fare?
Puri to Konark temple taxi fare is approximately Rs.1200.
How to travel from Bhubaneshwar to Konark to Puri?
Nearest railway station from Bhubaneshwar to Konark to Puri is Puri railway station.You can also avail bus service from Bhubaneshwar to Konark to Puri. Buses regularly ply from Konark to Puri. Bhubaneshwar to Konark distance is 68 kms. Konark to Puri distance is 35 kms via Marine drive road.
