Orissa Tourism To Promote Its 'Golden Triangle'

The Tourism Department of Orissa plans to promote the 'Golden Triangle' to the tour operators, apart from projecting the important tourist locations in the State. Bhubaneswar, Puri and Konark are the three corners of Orissa's 'Golden Triangle', which also represent three faces of the State's identity, people, faith and worship.

Ashok Kumar Tripathy, commissioner-cum-secretary, Department of Tourism, Government of Orissa, told Express Travel & Tourism. "We have appointed a public relations agency to effectively promote the Golden Triangle."

Bhubaneswar, the capital city of the State, is a pleasant green city known as 'City of Temples'. The most important temple is the Lingaraj Temple. It also houses the State museum and one of the country's best-kept zoological gardens, the 'Nandankanan'.

Puri is another corner of the Golden Triangle. It is rated among the four most important pilgrimage sites for Hindus. The world-famous Jagannath Temple is the main temple located here. Rath Yatra, the annual chariot festival of Lord Jagannath held in the month of July, draws lakhs of devotees from the country and abroad. It also has a long silver sand beach.

The third corner of the Golden Triangle is Konark. A small distance away from Puri is the famous Sun Temple of Konark. The temple conceived as a Chariot of Sun God faces the sea. The finely carved wheels of the chariot are particularly noteworthy. Though the sanctum of the temple has collapsed and what remains is the main assembly hall and other adjoining parts of the temple, it is definitely among the most beautiful monuments of India.