Bhubaneswar’s sights fall into three groups: the Old Town temples clustered around Bindu Sagar, the city sights on its edges — caves, Dhauli, the zoo, the museum and the crafts market — and the Golden Triangle and beyond: Konark, Puri, the craft villages and Chilika Lake. Each has its own guide below, with what to see, how to get there and which tours cover it.
Things to See in & Around Bhubaneswar
Sixteen places that make Odisha one of India’s great cultural journeys.
Old Town temples
Old Town temples Lingaraj Temple
The great tower of the Temple City
Bhubaneswar’s largest and holiest temple, an 11th-century masterpiece whose 55-metre tower dominates the Old Town. Hindus may enter the walled compound of more than a hundred shrines; everyone else sees it from a viewing platform beside the wall.
Old Town temples Mukteswar Temple
The gem of Odishan architecture
A small 10th-century temple famous for its carved sandstone torana arch and the most delicate sculpture in the city. Open to everyone, set in a garden with the Siddheswar temple and a sacred tank beside it.
Old Town temples Rajarani Temple
The temple with no god
An 11th-century temple built of the reddish-gold sandstone that gave it its name, set in manicured lawns and covered in graceful carvings of women, guardians and lions. There is no deity inside — which is why anyone may walk right up to it.
Old Town temples Parasurameswara Temple
The oldest survivor, from the 7th century
Built around 650 CE, this is the best-preserved of Bhubaneswar’s early temples and the place to see where the Kalinga style began: a squat tower, a flat-roofed hall and walls densely carved with gods, dancers and musicians.
Old Town temples Brahmeswara Temple
A dated jewel of 1058
An 11th-century Shiva temple dated by an inscription to around 1058 CE, laid out with four small corner shrines around the main tower and famous for its musicians, dancers and early use of iron beams.
Old Town temples Ekamra Kshetra & Bindu Sagar
The sacred Old Town on foot
The Old Town of Bhubaneswar, known in the scriptures as Ekamra Kshetra, is a maze of lanes, shrines and tanks centred on the great Bindu Sagar reservoir. Walk it early in the morning, when the ghats are busy with bathers and priests.
Around Bhubaneswar
Around Bhubaneswar Udayagiri & Khandagiri Caves
Jain monasteries cut into the rock
Two sandstone hills on the western edge of the city, honeycombed with rock-cut cells carved for Jain monks more than 2,000 years ago. The two-storey Rani Gumpha and King Kharavela’s Hathigumpha inscription are the highlights.
Around Bhubaneswar Dhauli & the Shanti Stupa
Where Ashoka turned to peace
A hill above the Daya river, traditionally identified with the aftermath of the Kalinga War of around 261 BCE. Emperor Ashoka’s rock edicts are carved here beneath a sculpted elephant, and a white Peace Pagoda built in the 1970s crowns the top.
Around Bhubaneswar Nandankanan Zoological Park
White tigers in the forest
A large zoo and botanical garden set in forest on the northern edge of Bhubaneswar, best known for its white tigers and its gharial breeding programme, with lion and tiger safaris and a lake in the middle.
Around Bhubaneswar Odisha State Museum
Palm-leaf manuscripts and Kalinga sculpture
The state museum near Kalpana Square holds one of India’s great collections of illustrated palm-leaf manuscripts, alongside temple sculpture, bronzes, coins, arms and a gallery of Odisha’s tribal cultures. The best rainy-day stop in the city.
Around Bhubaneswar Ekamra Haat
The whole state’s crafts in one market
A government-backed handicrafts market where artisans from across Odisha sell directly: Sambalpuri and Bomkai handloom, silver filigree, pattachitra painting, dhokra metalwork, stone carving and appliqué. The easiest place in the city to shop with confidence.
Golden Triangle & beyond
Golden Triangle & beyond Konark Sun Temple
A stone chariot for the Sun God
The 13th-century temple built as the chariot of Surya, with 24 carved stone wheels and seven horses, listed by UNESCO in 1984. It sits near the coast 65 km from Bhubaneswar and is the peak of the Kalinga style — and the essential day trip.
Golden Triangle & beyond Puri & the Jagannath Temple
Lord Jagannath’s city by the sea
One of Hinduism’s four holiest dhams, the 12th-century Jagannath Temple towers over the seaside town of Puri, 60 km from Bhubaneswar. Only Hindus may enter, but the town, the Grand Road, the beach and the famous Rath Yatra are open to all.
Golden Triangle & beyond 
Golden Triangle & beyond Raghurajpur
A village where every house is a studio
A heritage crafts village near Puri whose painted houses double as workshops for pattachitra painters, palm-leaf engravers and mask makers — and the birthplace of the Odissi guru Kelucharan Mohapatra.
Golden Triangle & beyond Chilika Lake
Asia’s largest brackish-water lagoon
A vast, shallow lagoon behind the coast south of Puri, home to rare Irrawaddy dolphins and, in winter, to hundreds of thousands of migratory birds. Boats leave from Satapada for the dolphins and from Barkul and Balugaon for Kalijai Island.
A sensible four-day plan: Day one, the Old Town temples and the State Museum. Day two, Udayagiri and Khandagiri in the morning, Dhauli at sunset. Day three, Pipili and Konark, then along the Marine Drive to Puri for the night. Day four, Puri and Raghurajpur — or Chilika Lake if you are staying on.
Plan your days in Odisha
Temples, caves, the Sun Temple and the sea — in one trip
Bhubaneswar’s Old Town, Konark’s stone chariot and Jagannath’s Puri form Odisha’s Golden Triangle, all within 65 km of each other. Compare guided tours and day trips and book in a couple of taps.