[Sommos]

Puri is famous for the 11th century temple of Lord Jagannath and is a prominent pilgimage of India. The temple is one of the holiest Hindu Char Dham (four divine) sites comprising Rameswaram, Badrinath, Puri and Dwarka. According to Hindu teachings, a pilgrimage of the temples of India is not considered complete without a journey to Puri. The word "Puri" in Sanskrit means 'town', or 'city'. It is possible that Puri is a shortened name for Jagannath Puri or Purusottama Puri.

Apart from the religious side of this place, Puri is endowed with one of the best beaches for swimming in India and is, therefore, also a very popular beach resort, especially as it is positioned geographically in such a way that both sunset and sunrise can be viewed from the beach. The beach hosts sand art displays, including work by international award winning local sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik.

The planning

I'm not so religous minded and it was only the popularity of the place as a beach resort that I decided to visit Puri. Actually my mother was going to my sister's place and my son was perturbed with the whole idea of missing "dadi". His annual examination was complete on 13th and the school would reopen on 01st April. To cool him we decided to make a short trip to Puri. My wife have never visited Puri and I had visited Puri last with my parents when I was in class five. So a visit to Puri was always on the cards, this time every thing clicked and we got a good excuse.

The Route

There is only one route from Bhilai (or Raipur) to Puri.
You take NH6 from Bhilai to Sambalpur : 304 KM
Sambalpur to Manguli Chowk NH42 : 265 KM
Manguli Chowk To Puri via NH5 and NH203 : 95 KM

Total distance would be around 664 KM.

Day One : Wednesday 20/03/2013

We set off from home precisely at half past three in the morning on my Linea. The roads were empty and the car sped through the Raipur - Durg Expressway towards Raipur at triple digit figures on the odo. We reached Arang (66 KM) exactly at quater to five. The four lane expressway ends there and the old two laned highway begins all the way to CG-OD border. Four laneing of this portion has started but it is in a preliminary stage; the trees are being cut and the land is being levelled and it might take atleast a couple of years to complete. Just after Arang I was caught in a jam created by a breakdown truck on the bridge over the Mahanadi river. That wasted about 20 minutes. From Arang as you proceed towards Odisha, you cross the Barnavapara jungle followed by Tumgaon, Patewa, Pithora, Basna and Saraipalli, a distance of around 121 KM. Saraipalli is the last noticeable town on the CG side on NH6. Around 28 KM from Saraipalli is the Luhurachati inter-state (common) check post between the states of Chhattisgarh and Odisha. As expected there is huge queue of heavy trucks on both side of the border check post (though not comparable to Jaleshwar check post between WB and OD on NH6) and the road is in bad shape most of the time. I had to take a detour through a small village named "Chiwri" or something similar. This road unfortunately is not showwn in the Google maps and even my MMI maps went for a toss when I was crossing this streach. There is no road sign at this place either at the CG end or the OD side but this abondoned road takes you through the border by avoiding the checkpost and saves time.

The narrow village road through "Chiwri" to avoid the check post at CG-OD border.



Even my MMI devise was lost in this unknown territory.



As you enter Odisha, you are greeted by the freshly laid fourlane road (under construction) with lots of diversion right upto Sambalpur. The culverts on this streach are being built and hence the diversion on several places. As you proceed ahead you'll cross Sohela, Bargarh, Attabira and then Sambalpur. The road from Attabira to Sambalpur is full of patch works which would restrict your speed and also make the journey uneven and bumpy. We halted at Hotel Ganapati at Bargarh for breakfast at around quater to eight. The hotel staff were not ready with the breakfast menu but they provided wonderful sandwitches and tea/coffee for us. After the breakfast we reached Sambalpur around nine thirty. There is a by-pass around Sambalpur (as shown in the picture) for NH6 but recent expansion to the city has brought the by-pass within the city limits. On one side of Sambalpur is the river Mahanadi, so all the expansion to the city is obvoiusly happening on the other side. At Sambalpur one has to leave NH6 and take NH42.

Sambalpur by-pass on NH6 and way to NH42 :



From Sambalpur one would pass through Charmal, Redhakhol, Angul, Dhenkanal and Chaudwar to join NH5 at Manguli Square/Chowk, a distance of around 270 KM. NH 42 is double lane, old styled highway, except that I noticed some huge potholes at places that were not there when I travelled last on this route in January. The NH42 passes through some forest area like the Redhakhol-Charmal range, Bamur forest range, Badamba forest range, Kapilas forest range etc. and it feels wonderful to drive on this serpentine highway with thick vegetation on both sides of the road and small villages in between. The 18-20Km streach through Angul is the worst part of this otherwise beautiful highway. There is no by-pass for Angul and one is forced to drive through the city. Apart from NALCO factory and the bauxite mines, there are coal mines and a Super Thermal Power Plant of NTPC in nearby Talcher and various mining projects and power & steel plants of Jindal, Bhusan and others. All the heavy dumpers carrying coal and other minerals would also ply on the same roads making the roads congested and difficult to drive. However, there is a proper by-pass for the Dhenkanal city.

We halted on NH42 to collect some unique "palash" flower (Common Name : Flame of the forest). This flower blooms only during the holi festival.







For the information of the members, I would like to add here that Dhenkanal was a princely state till the independence of India and has a long history. Most part of this district is covered with dense forest and a long range of hills, which are home to elephants and tigers. The famous “Kapilas Hill” which is popularly known as the “Kailash” of Utkal is also in this district. Dhenkanal is called a “Tourist Paradise” by the people of Odisha and is surrounded by mountains and beautiful natural sceneries. Its ancient temples on the hilltops are an added attraction for the religious people.

We reached Manguli Chowk at about two in the afternoon and took a right turn for Cuttack. NH5 takes you ahead by another 30KM through Cuttack and upto Rasulgarh in Bhubaneshwar. By this time you cross the distributaries of the Mahanadi thrice. At Rasulgarh you have to leave NH5 and proceed through NH203 to Puri for around another 60-65 KM. After crossing through the rest of the crowded Bhubaneshwar city, we took a rest under a big banyan tree on the roadside. We completed our homemade lunch there and proceded towards Puri. Contrary to some of the views I've read on the forum, I stuck to NH203 straight upto Puri. The road is being converted to fourlane and there are diversions on the road but driving on the freshly laid tarmac was fantastic. Even Pipli was not crowded at all, maybe the afternoon heat was the reason. Ultimately we reached Puri at four in the afternoon.

The Hotel

Puri has a wide variety of hotels suitable for all class of people and for all budgets. Most of the popular hotels of Puri however are located on the Marine Drive Road, but this place seemed too overcrowded to me. The affluent ones prefer Mayfair (new Mayfair Premium is coming up), Toshali Sands, Hans Coco Palms and some others. But for the average people and if you would like to enjoy the sea away from the crowd, the OTDC Panthanivas is the best choise. The hotel has direct access to the beach and the beach in this side is absolutely peaceful with only a handful of tourists.

A view from the hotel balcony :

[Sommos]

Now enjoy some pictures taken on the road. The pictures are taken from inside the moving car, therefore, sorry for the poor quality of the pictures.

The sun coming up from slumber :



Some pictures of the beautiful NH42 :















The four lane higway NH203 between Bhubaneshwar and Puri :







After settling in the hotel room we headed straight to the beach and had a beautiful time till 7:30 in the evening. It eventually became our daily routine for the rest of our stay; the mornings and evenings were spent on the beach.

[Sommos]

Day Two : Thrusday 21/03/2013.

Jagannath Darshan

The next day we woke up early at four and was out for the famous Jaganath Temple by quarter past five. The hotel has a panda of its own and the gentleman promised us a trouble free "darshan" of the deity provided we can be at the temple premises by five thirty. He even arranged a auto to take us to the temple and the auto reported dot at five in the morning. By five thirty we were at the front of the Main gate of the temple. True to his words, this gentleman arranged an absolutely trouble free (no queues and more importantly no demands or harassment from the main pandas) darshan for us. We stayed inside the main temple (garv griha) for around an hour and witnessed from close the deities of Jagannath, Balabhadra and the goddess Subhadra, which constitute the trinity of deities sitting on the bejewelled platform or the Ratnavedi in the inner sanctum. The Sudarshan Chakra, idols of Madanmohan, Sridevi and Vishwadhatri are also placed on the Ratnavedi. I always knew that there are only three deities inside the Jagannath temple, the other four were never known to me before this visit.

Visitors to the temple are not allowed to take any mobile or camera inside the temple. It would always be advised to leave your mobile and camera at the hotel during the temple visit. Or else you have to deposit the same with them on the same counter where you would leave your shoes, this I felt was quite risky.

In front of the entrance to the eastern gateway there is the beautiful Sun Pillar (Aruna Stambha) over which squats the praying Aruna the charioteer of the Sun God Surya. This structure originally stood before the temple of the Sun at Konark and was shifted here by the Marathas.The Sun Pillar is a monolithic shaft with sixteen sides.

The Singahdwara, which in Sanskrit means The Lion Gate, is one of the four gates to the temple and forms the Main entrance. The Singhadwara is so named because two huge statues of crouching lions exist on either side of the entrance. The gate faces east opening on to the Bada Danda or the Grand Road. This gate is used by the general public for entry to the temple. Apart from the Singhadwara there are three other entrances facing north, south and west. They are named after the sculptures of animals guarding them. The other entrances are the Hathidwara or the Elephant Gate, the Vyaghradwara or the Tiger Gate and the Ashwadwara or the Horse Gate. They are also called as Purbadwara, Dakhinadwara, Paschimadwara and Uttardwara according to their directions.

Sorry for the boring description of the temple. We visited the other temples within the premises and saw the kitchen and finally returned to the hotel by nine. After freshening up and having our breakfast we headed for Konark.

The Sun Temple, Konark

The distance from OTDC Panthanivas, Puri to the Sun Temple at Konark is 36 KM, out of which the first 5 KM is within Puri town, the next 25 Km is through the Balukhand-Konark Reserve Forest, 3 KM is just by the sea side to Chandra Bhaga beach at Konark and the last 3 KM is perpendicular to the beach to the Sun Temple.

The road is full of such signboards :



The Puri-Konark Marine Drive, NH 203 :







All approach roads to the Sun Temple has been blocked for the public. There is a parking lot cum bus stop near Hotel Chandrabhaga and you have to park your vehicle there and walk for 1KM to reach the temple premises. Hats were available in the roadside shops on rent to protect one from the heat. Very interestingly an auto approached us and for twenty rupees he took us past all these police barricades right upto the ticket counter in front of the temple.

The name "Konark" is derived from the Sanskrit word 'Kona" (meaning angle) and word 'Arka' (meaning sun). Konark Sun Temple (also known as the Black Pagoda), is constructed from sandstone and is an excellent example of Orissan architecture of that period. The temple is one of the most renowned temples in India and has been declared as a World Heritage Site. It is one of the Seven Wonders of India (as per the poll conducted by NDTV). Legend has it that the temple was constructed by Samba, the son of Lord Krishna. It is said that Samba was afflicted by leprosy, brought about by his father’s curse on him. After 12 years of penance, he was cured by Surya, the Sun God, in whose honour he built the magnificent Konark Sun Temple.

The temple has been built in the form of the majestic chariot of Surya (Arka), the Sun God, and is heavily decorated with stone carvings. The entire complex was designed in the form of the God's huge chariot drawn by seven spirited horses on twelve pairs of exquisitely decorated wheels at its base. The huge wheels carved at the base of the temple are one of the major attractions and the spokes of the wheels are said to serve as sundials and the shadows cast by these can give the precise time of the day. The temple complex also contains erotic sculptures, which can be found primarily on the second level of the porch structure, similar to the temple in Khajuraho. Majestic in conception, the Sun Temple is one of the most sublime monuments of India, famous as much for its imposing dimensions and faultless proportions as for the architectural grandeur. Every inch of the temple is covered with sculpture of an unsurpassed beauty and grace.

Excerpts from the Wikipedia on The Sun Temple :

The following are popular sayings from the local populace and the guides about the Sun Temple.

Legend has it that, the uniqueness of the temple lies in the fact that between every two stone pieces there lies an iron plate (this can be clearly seen). The temples higher floors have been reinforced using massive iron beams. This fantastic effort in human perseverance took 1200 workers about 12 years to complete and that the ’’Dadhinauti’’ (Peak) of the main temple had to be installed by the 12 year old son Dharmapada Moharana of the Chief Architect Bishu Moharana. The said peak being a 52 ton magnet. This magnet was the reason the entire edifice endured the harsh conditions (being on the sea front) for centuries without being affected. The main pratima (idol) was believed to be floating in the air because of the unique arrangements of the main magnets and other series of magnets. The placement of the temple had been aligned in a way that the first rays of the Sun falling on the coast would pass through the Nata Mandir and would reflect from the diamond placed at the center of this idol in the Main Sanctum. This phenomena would last for a couple of minutes during the early morning. These magnets were later removed by the Britishers for acquiring the magnetic stone.

Other legends state that, the magnetic effects of the lodestone was so strong that it disturbed the ships compasses that passed by the coast and the ships would run aground. To save their trade and their ships, the Portuguese took away the lodestone. The lodestone that was acting as the central stone and keeping all the stones of the temple well balanced, fell out of alignment because of its removal and eventually led to the destruction of Main Sanctum.

The entrance is guarded by two giant lions, which are each shown crushing a war elephant. Each elephant in turn lies on top of a human body.Here lion is represented as pride and elephant is represented as money and the meaning conveyed is both money and pride crushes man (see the picture below). The temple symbolizes the majesty of the Sun God. At the entrance of the temple is a Nata mandir. This is where the temple dancers used to perform dances in homage to the Sun God. The temple is now partly in ruins, and a collection of its sculptures is housed in the Sun Temple Museum, which is run by the Archaeological Survey of India.



The Sun Temple with the Nata Mandir in the front :



Of the seven magnificient horses only this one managed to withstand time :



Some more pictures of the Sun Temple :

[Sommos]

A few broken pieces kept at the side :



Some other broken/disintegrated pieces kept aside :



Notice the way the structure is falling apart, this historic monument is in ruins :





All the effort of the ASI to restore the structure has resulted in this :



Maybe in the near future there will be no carvings to see, only flat stone walls, a monumental effort towards restoration of the historic site by ASI :





Stone statues of the Sun god on the outside :







A final shot of the once magnificient temple structure at Konark :



By the time we finished visiting the Sun Temple it was already two in the afternoon and the sun was in full strength overhead.
We returned to the parking lot the same way by an auto and headed straight to Puri. Thanks to member Gautam Mishra and his thread A Guide: Eating out in Bhubaneshwar/Puri/Cuttack, we had a sumptuous lunch at Hans Coco Palms and retired in the hotel room for some rest. The evening was again enjoyed in the beach.

[Sommos]

Day Three : Friday 22/03/2013.

The Dolphin Hunt at Chilka

Today we all got up late and relaxed on the balcony with a cup of tea. We finished our breakfast by half past nine and started for Satapada on the Chilka Lake. NH203 connects Bhubaneshwar with Puri and extends till Konark; and a branch of the same highway NH203A connects Puri with Satapada. The distance from Puri to Satapada is around 50KM.



Satapada derives its name from the words "Sata" meaning seven and "Pada" meaning village, so the name Satapada means group of seven villages. Satpada is located at the meeting point of Chilika Lake and Bay of Bengal. The famous Chilika dolphins or the Irrawaddy dolphins can be seen in their natural best here. Chilka is home to the only known population of Irrawaddy dolphins in India and one of only two lagoons in the world that are home to this species. Apart from India this species can be found in South East Asia and has been declared as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Satapada is actually an island on the Chilka Lake.



About eight kilometres before Satapada, private operators have erected huge hordings on the road to lure the tourists for dolphin sighting what they call Dolphin Point. They also block the road to convince you to use their facility. I later came to know that the place is called Sipakuda. However, we ignored them and preceeded straight to the OTDC Yatri Nivas at Satapada. At the OTDC office we booked a boat for Rs. 900.00 for one and a half hour trip in the lake including dolphin sighting. We ordered for the lunch before we going on the trip so that when we return the lunch would be ready. The best part of having the boat ride from OTDC is that you don't have to share it with anybody, we were only three on the boat.

We roamed about on the lake for about 45 minutes but could not see a trace of the dolphins. By that time I was convinced that we may not be so lucky and the whole day was wasted. Our boatman also looked dejected. He then came to a lonely point shut off the engine and waited. While all the private boats were searching for dolphin far away, our boat was waiting alone on the other side for almost 15 minutes.

Then suddenly the dolphins appeared first one then another one and finally a group of four/five playing in the water all around the boat. It was really a great sight to view the dolphins twisting and twirling in the water sometimes in pair and at times single. They dolphins come above the water only for a fraction of time and it was no use trying to capture them in camera, so we enjoyed the sight to our heart's content. By this time the other boats could fathom that we have seen the dolphins and started to approach our boat. They were ten or twelve in numbers with diesel engines making noise almost like a helicopter. The dolphins could be seen for a few more minutes before they disappeared underwater. We considered ourselves extremely lucky to have witnessed the dolphins for more than fifteen minutes. Our boatman (Jitendra, an OTDC employee) also said that it is very rare to be able to see the dolphins for so long.















Overall, the dolphins' color is grey to dark slate blue, paler underneath. The dorsal fin is small and rounded behind the middle of the back. The forehead is high and rounded and the beak is lacking. The appearance is not anywhere like the normal dolphins we see in the TV channels.



We came back to the Yatri Nivas fully satisfied, had our lunch and headed back to Puri. Needless to say the evening was spent at the beach.

[mobike008]

Note from Mod : Thread moved from Assembly Line to Travelogues section. Thanks for sharing.

[samarjitdhar]

Nice crisp travelogue. I see that you are doing this route now frequently . Good to hear at least that NH6 in Odisha is in good shape and is being widened. Once again I was hoping if you would be kind enough to mark out that unmarked road which bypasses the OD-CH border . It seems to be a nice one even though its single laned and would be a boon for travelers.

Update: Just realized that even Google Maps doesn't show this road, so if you could please mark out the approximate points on the OD and CH side this detour can be taken it will be a lot of help.

Since the map view was of little help, I switched to the satellite view to see the possible detours. From what it looks like those are the two options as shown below. Could you please confirm?

[rohittunga]

Good travelogue and nice writing there Sommos

We were also thinking to visit all the famous temples around Puri. So the information you provided will be of great use to us. Waiting for you to complete the rest of your trip and also how your beloved car behaved.

[Sommos]

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

Once again I was hoping if you would be kind enough to mark out that unmarked road which bypasses the OD-CH border . It seems to be a nice one even though its single laned and would be a boon for travelers.

From what it looks like those are the two options as shown below. Could you please confirm?

I think the points marked A and B should be the two points on the CG and OD side respectively. In the CG side we often find trucks lined up upto the point A. Since this side it is two lane highway at present, if there is one single truck on the right side, trying to avoid the queue, then the road gets completely blocked. Also going down from the asphalt road is risky as there are lot of undulations created by the heavy trucks and the road here is at a height of three/four ft. from the ground.

This time I didn't even try to cross through the checkpost. The queue of trucks were even beyond the point A marked in the map. Learning from my last trip, this time I straightway crossed through the village road.



BTW is there any way to extract the route actually travelled from the MMI devise.

[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by Sommos

BTW is there any way to extract the route actually travelled from the MMI devise.

Thanks a bunch for marking those points out. Should be extremely helpful to anybody who wants to avoid that jam.

In your MMI device when you start navigating, you will see a little icon with a small red dot on the right side. Once you click on that the device starts recording the track/route you are taking. Once you are done you can then stop the recording using that same icon (which now shows stop). The device then saves the track/route in its internal format however you can convert that into a KML file which can be loaded in Google Earth. Please be aware that this KML file does not contain details like coordinates, speed, elevation, etc. (that is how it is given the way MMI works ). However it is good enough to see the route you took once you load the KML file in Google Earth.

[Sommos]

Day Four : Sunday 23/03/2013.

We decided to enjoy the last day of our tour on the Puri beach.

We all woke up in the morning in a leisurely way and went straight to the beach at six thirty in the morning and sat on the beach enjoying the morning sun. After half an hour myself and my son went into the water to have a bath. We hired a "nuliah" to keep an watch and help in case of a need. With the help of the rubber tube from the nuliah, we enjoyed swimming / floating in the water for more than an hour. My wife was initially hesitant and afraid to come into the water but after some time she also joined us and enjoyed floating on the water with the help of the tube. We were forced to cut short the enjoyment only because of the compelling reason of having our breakfast.





My son was not satisfied with the morning session in the sea, so I came back to the beach again in the afternoon. While he enjoyed his bath in the sea with the nuliah, I rested in the shade. The OTDC Panthanivas can be seen in the background.



Later on I too joined him and both of us enjoyed playing in the water for another hour.

In the evening we took a stroll along the beach and my son enjoyed a camel ride on the beach sand.



As we went further we noticed this peice of art at a secluded portion on the beach. Some local boys told us that is was a sandart by Sudarshan Pattnaik. I could not find any way to verify the artist.



Then we walked to the Marine Drive Road and purchased some confectionaries from Mongini's and some dry fruits etc. from the market for the return journey.

The hotel dues were paid off at night after the dinner so that we can start early in the morning. Here I learnt that the OTDC hotel does not accept any payment through card. Luckily I had enough cash to settle the restaurant bills and Service Tax amount.

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by Sommos

BTW is there any way to extract the route actually travelled from the MMI devise.

First record the track as described by Mr. Dhar below.

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

In your MMI device when you start navigating, you will see a little icon with a small red dot on the right side. Once you click on that the device starts recording the track/route you are taking. Once you are done you can then stop the recording using that same icon (which now shows stop). The device then saves the track/route in its internal format however you can convert that into a KML file which can be loaded in Google Earth. Please be aware that this KML file does not contain details like coordinates, speed, elevation, etc. (that is how it is given the way MMI works ). However it is good enough to see the route you took once you load the KML file in Google Earth.

The internal file is of the form MMI_DateTimeStamp.bin. This has both elevation and timestamps. Unfortunately (more tests needed) MMI default seems to be 'lock on road'.

Regards
Sutripta

[PetrolRider]

Excellent travelogue with a splendid narration Sir. You have brought back memories from past. A big thank you to you sir.

As you have mentioned about Konark temple, I would like to put some folktales (Authenticity of this was never known, but this story was came down from the mouth of grandparents to their grandchildren for ages).

1. The exact location of the first ray of Sun was inside the sea. On king's order worker put tons of sand to fill the sea and build the temple. Initially the Sea was touching the temple compound, but later the sea retracted 3 KM, to its existing position.
3. The 1200 workers were unable to put the Arch stone. The king was very unhappy and gave a dead line of one day to put the arch stone, else all the 1200 workers shall put to death. The son of the chief architect Bishu Maharana, Dharmapada, who was just 12 year old and visiting his father heard of this and put the arch stone, believed to be a magnet. The worker feared that, if the King came to know that a 12 year kid did what the experienced 1200 workers couldn't, definitely he would order their beheading. To eliminate the fear among the worker, as the son of the chief architect, Dharmapada took his life by jumping into the sea.

The interesting fact is, instead of iron, raw iron stones were used in the temple construction, which was the main reason of corrosion from sea water. Again, to protect the temple, British archeologist filled sand inside the temple. This not only increased the weight of the structure, also sand used to soak more salt water from air and increased the corrosion rate.

I am extremely sorry Sommos sir for putting so much garbage to your beautiful travelogue, please forgive me for this.

[Sommos]

Originally Posted by PetrolRider

Excellent travelogue with a splendid narration Sir. You have brought back memories from past. A big thank you to you sir.

The interesting fact is, instead of iron, raw iron stones were used in the temple construction, which was the main reason of corrosion from sea water. Again, to protect the temple, British archeologist filled sand inside the temple. This not only increased the weight of the structure, also sand used to soak more salt water from air and increased the corrosion rate.

I am extremely sorry Sommos sir for putting so much garbage to your beautiful travelogue, please forgive me for this.

Thanks, for the beautiful insight on the Konark temple.
Please don't call me Sir, we are on the same platform.

[julupani]

Originally Posted by Sommos

Puri is famous for the 11th century temple of Lord Jagannath and is a prominent pilgimage of India. The temple is one of the holiest Hindu Char Dham (four divine) sites comprising Rameswaram, Badrinath, Puri and Dwarka...........
The Route

There is only one route from Bhilai (or Raipur) to Puri.
You take NH6 from Bhilai to Sambalpur : 304 KM
Sambalpur to Manguli Chowk NH42 : 265 KM
Manguli Chowk To Puri via NH5 and NH203 : 95 KM

Total distance would be around 664 KM.
........

Glad you had a nice time in Puri. But I just want to mention that the route you took is not the only one.

The route I would have taken is the following:


The above route helps you avoid reasonably heavy traffic between Angul and Manguli Chowk, and the very heavy traffic from Manguli Chowk till outskirts of Bhubaneswar. You will also avoid any serious traffic at a major border crossing.

You can take any route to reach Balangir from Raipur and take NH224(NH57) till Khurda. From Khurda, you can directly go to Pipili, bypassing the entire Bhubaneswar city. NH224(NH57) is a newly constructed National highway which is in superb shape and has far less traffic than the NH42(NH55). You will barely ever find a truck on this highway. I have driven the 320km distance between Bhubaneswar and Balangir in 5 hours. It is also quite a good deal more picturesque. Most state highways and MDR's in Odisha state are actually in very good condition, except those in the southern districts.