Souvenirs of Puri

        The stupendous view of the Bay of Bengal was slowly getting subdued by the paced approach of the darkness. The glaring Sun lost its intrepid vigour and immersed into the horizon of the west. The endless bellow of the sea waves could only be heard in the dark. On the other side, another exuberant atmosphere was in the making, as the sea shore based business plazas were getting dressed for the evening. The beach side lights, decorated like sparkling garlands, started to glitter attractively, and it was the time to turn our attention towards another direction.

display of dresses

            The devoutly visit to the abode of Lord Jagannath was complete; long hours of sea bathing, and the sightseeing were over.
             On the outset of collecting the souvenirs of Puri, as well as the urge to purchase some of the articles of  the household, I was dragged to the heart of shopping plazas located at the ever chirpy premises of Swarga-dwar.

pile of Kotki cottons

           The available wide choices for mementoes were, from the Odishi printed clothes to different sweets. The outlets of Odishi printed cottons or Katki were selling their products with squashing demand. Varied dresses, ethnically printed bed sheets, saris, have large number of admirer, and the piles of stock could be seen to be sold out like evaporating instantly before the eyes.

view of stalls at the beach

           The stalls at the beach or at the footpath were selling various forms souvenirs with innovative design, even tiny key chains, locks, bangles, and Chinese toys were also seen to have their positions among the other mementoes of Puri.

sea shell items

           Exclusive shops of sea shell items were also doing fairly good business. It was rollicking business in every space with a bit haggle, but under a convivial atmosphere.

aluminium store

            The metallic artifacts were another exemplar of the ethnic memento. Mementoes in the form of aluminium or the other metallic articles could also be purchased from the reasonable number of exclusive shops. The aluminium made items were said to have manufactured at the NALCO factory of Odisha. The aluminium utensils and other metallic products have their distinguishing design.

souvenir

            The Puri-r Goja or Goja of Puri has been indubitable source of appeal for the sweet lover tourists. Goja, the typically shaped slight hard sweet, like crunchy biscuits, are made of wheat flour and sugar as their main ingredient that is dipped into sugar syrup after a deep fry. The Goja also offered before the Lord Jagannath, and the sweet has always been adored by the tourists and pilgrims of Puri. Exclusive stalls of Goja displayed attractively are very common scene especially at the Swarga-dwar. The eye catching sweets have inimitable taste, and I have seen that huge stacks of Goja to get exhausted instantly after they are displayed.

stalls of Goja

             My visit ended with the sweet memoirs, without too much crunch on the budget and obviously with the bags entirely tight packed with the souvenirs of Puri.

....and the Sunrise at the beach

Sunrise has always been a matter of priority to me,every time, wherever I go. After reaching Puri,Odisha, I got ready to experience the Sun rise at the beach. Sun rise and Sun set can be experienced from the same point standing at the Puri beach. It was around 4.00am and little cold was perceived, the day was windy too. Without making any delay, I picked up the camera, I was afraid of missing the view of Sun rise, so I ran for the Sea beach, and was praying to God for a spectacular Sun rise.

the journey for a livelihood,Puri

Standing at the beach,experienced another scene of beauty,the fight between the stormy waves of the Bay of Bengal with few undaunted persons locally known “Nulia” or the fishermen. They also serve as Lifeguards for the tourists. The fighermen were taking their fishing boats into the Sea. They were making their way into the sea struggling with the violent waves. I could see sometimes their boat was getting almost vertical up by the thrust of the waves and sometimes getting hidden on the other side of high waves. I remained spellbound while watching them sailing towards their destination.

 men at work,Puri

It was a team work,some of them gone in a boat in the Sea and some stayed at the beach holding the rope of the fishing net tied at the boat.

waiting for the catch,Puri beach

After the boat reached at certain spot, the fishermen on the boat started spreading their fishing net,and the men at the shore started pulling the other end of the rope of fishing net,and slowly the net with the catch was brought out of the water. I saw them catching fish that way at-least twice before the Sun rise.

team members of the fishermen,Puri

The tourists were getting gathered for having a look of the fish on their stroll at the beach,some of them were buying too.

the catch at Puri beach

They were selling the fish at the beach in a peculiar way,they filled one side of their weighing beam balance with sand and other side they weighed fishes.

beam balance at the Puri beach

Finally saw the Sun rise,it was fantastic,the sea started glowing in goldden colour with the ascending Sun of the morning. The light started filling the surrounding,the warmth of the Sun took away the cold of the early morning and the crowd that gathered to watch the fishes, slowly got dispersed.

the sun rise at Puri

Enjoyed watching the Sun rise, that appeared from the heart of Bay of Bengal. But, It was more charming to watch the daredevil fishermen, challenging the turbulent sea for their livelihood.The Sun rise was definitely spectacular but,watching the Nulias and their daily routined fight for life was even more spectacular.

life guards of Puri

How to reach:Puri,is well connected by Rail and Road,with all the parts of rest of India.Puri can be reached by direct trains or trains to Bhubaneswar can be availed,and Puri can be reached by road or rail from Bhubaneswar.Website of Indian rail indianrail.gov.in can be visited for details.