Khirachora Gopinatha Temple (Odia: କ୍ଷୀରଚୋରା ଗୋପୀନାଥ ମନ୍ଦିର) is a Hindu Temple made by Langula Narasingha Deva in Remuna of Balasore district in Odisha, India.

Eastern Ganga Dynasty king Langula Narasingha Deva, brought Gopinath to Remuna in the 13th century from Chitrakuta. This king arranged to have dug the two big tanks, Brajapokhari and Kutapokhari.

Lord Gopinatha, flanked by Sri Govinda and Sri Madana Mohana, is made of black stone. Sri Gopinatha stands in bas-relief. Govinda and Madana Mohana, who were brought from Vrindavana in about 1938 by a devotee named "Chaitanya Dasa Babaji", are standing freely.

It is said that Sri Rama carved Gopinatha with His arrow and that Sita worshiped this deity in Chitrakuta. During Banabasa to show the next avatar bigraha (Idol) to Sita.

How to reach Khirachora Gopinatha Temple:

Declaration:

Prathamastami (Odia: ପ୍ରଥମାଷ୍ଟମୀ) is a day dedicated for the firstborn of each family of Odia household. Sounds cliché, but the lucky elder one gets to wear a new dress and fed all good varieties of sweets and Pitha (pancakes).

This auspicious day is celebrated to pray for well being of the eldest one where the younger ones get nothing other than Pitha Mitha (no dress😃).

No luck on finding turmeric leaves in and around here (Cochin, Kerala) in my neighborhood. So with that disappointment, I made Stuffed idli, Peas curry, Angoori Rasmalai, Rasagola, and Kheer.

The highlight of this day is the Enduri Pitha, turmeric leaves wrapped steamed pancake with a filling of jaggery coconut, which we all get to eat at home. The aroma of turmeric leaves wafting throughout the house and the taste of it already making my mouth watery.

Hope you had a great day! Stay safe and stay happy. Do follow @savory__delights for more such posts💞.

About the Author:

Julie Samantaray, an Odia food blogger from Odisha, staying in Cochin, Kerala. She loves to cook and share with everyone. As a foodie, she not only shares her food with family and friends, also shares lots of recipes on her Instagram feed. Follow her on Instagram @savory__delights

Nandinia Waterfall (Odia: ନନ୍ଦିନିଆ ଜଳପ୍ରପାତ) is located in Hindol of Dhenkanal district of Indian state Odisha. This waterfall is inside a jungle of Dhenkanal.

Nandinia Waterfall is located in Hindol of Dhenkanal district of Indian state Odisha. This waterfall is inside a jungle of Dhenkanal. There are no proper signboards to the place but locals would help you reach. Don’t miss this electric pole.

The Nandinia Waterfall is around 100 kilometers from Bhubaneswar, the state capital of Odisha. This waterfall is located around 6 kilometers away on the left side of Amalapada Raymunda village of Hindol Sub-division. Since the waterfall is inside the forest, it's not easily approachable.

According to some legends, the king of Hindol Gadajat, Shree Nanda Mahadev went inside the jungle and met a saint inside a cave and the saint named that cave on the name of the king as Nandinia Cave (Odia: ନନ୍ଦିନିଆ ଗୁମ୍ଫା).

As per some folk tales, one buffalo was searching for water and fallen into a ditch. At that time, lord Jagannath appeared and blessed the buffalo with water.

From that ditch, the waterfall started and the ditch is named Nandinia Kunda (Odia: ନନ୍ଦିନିଆ କୁଣ୍ଡ) and the waterfall Nandinia Waterfall. On every Chitalagi Amavashya, local people do worship to Lord Jagannath and chanting names.

The surroundings of this waterfall are good for Picnic. So, people from places visit this place in the winter season, but the roads are not approachable to the waterfall and there is no proper guidelines and promotion about this place, so fewer people know about this place.

There is an art of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Devi Subhadra drawn inside the Nandinia Cave. When people visit the waterfall, they also visit Mahaprabhu there.

About the Author:

Surajit Kumar Mishra, an Odia Technical professional, and a Biker, Blogger, and Vlogger by his passion. He uses to travel to different destinations from which some are famous and some are unexplored. Subscribe to him on YouTube. And follow him on Twitter @SurajitTweet

N.B.: All these photo rights are reserved for the original author and before using any of it, please take the permission of him. And the content is translated from a Facebook post by Odisha Tourism. And thanks to Chandra Mohan Baral Bhai for the suggestions about this place.

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• Sapua Dam

Prathamastami (Odia: ପ୍ରଥମାଷ୍ଟମୀ) is an Odia festival celebrating the "first-born" child of a family. They are called the "Prathama" or "Poruan" meaning "the first".

This one's a very special occasion for me. Because I get to celebrate back-to-back. Being born on Kartika Purnima... I know that Prathamashtami isn't far🤣. And the cherry on top is that my younger sister gets no attention on this day🤣🤣.

So, in the frame, you can see ENDURI PITHA. Enduri pitha is prepared during Prathamastami. A batter of black gram and rice flour along with a stuffing of jaggery and coconut is wrapped in turmeric leaves and then steamed.

My mom has spoilt me silly, I am telling you. But that's ok... today's my day. All the "Prathamas"... all my love to you.💃💃

Also, yours truly has finally learnt how to make these pithas. These are made by me. Hence, the cracks. But that's ok.🙈

You can see the Enduri Pitha making process on this blog- Enduri Pitha Making

The Dhamarai Temple (Odia: ଧାମରାଇ ମନ୍ଦିର) is a Hindu temple at Dhamara, a small coastal township, where the river Dhamra (Odia: ଧାମରା) meets the Bay of Bengal.

The place is around 60 to 70 kilometers from Bhadrak district headquarters in the eastern direction. Dhamara is surrounded by Chandbali in the West, Basudebpur in the North, Kalibhanjadia in the South, and Bay of Bengal in the East.

There are a number of legends and folk tales regarding the deity Dhamarai and the temple of Maa Dhamarai.

According to one of the historical legends, one merchant namely Dhaneswar who often traded with the Singhalies (Srilanka) had brought a deity namely 'Pashana Mangala' from Srilanka and had established the same at Dhamara on his way back home. The said deity, later on, came to be known as MAA DHAMARAI.

According to one of the folktales, Maa Dhamrai had five sisters and were residing at a place called 'Satabhaya'. Her five sisters were carnivorous in contradiction to her being purely vegetarian, which had angered her sisters and they pushed her deep into the sea.

Floating on the water Maa Dhamarai came towards Chandinipala and is believed to have been caught in the fishing net of one Sanatana Dalai and Bulei Behera who had rescued her and started worshiping keeping her in their house.

Later on, it is believed that on the same night the queen of the then King of Kanika, Sailendra Narayan Bhanjadeo saw a dream wherein Maa Dhamarai ordered her to build a temple.

The temple built by the then king Sailendra Narayan Bhanjadeo by the year 1953 got destroyed and the remains even were washed away into the sea.

During the said period the people worshiped the deity keeping her inside a thatched roof house.

• Content Source: bhadrak.nic.in
• Photo Source: Some from bhadrak.nic.in and others from different sources and the photographer's name is written on the photos.
• This is a basic blog just to know about this temple and the folk tales of Maa Dhamarai.

Other Place of Bhadrak:

• Rakta Tirtha Eram
• Entry point to Bhitarakanika
• Biranchi Narayan Temple, Palia
• Dakshineswar Kali Temple, Bhadrak

Rakta Tirtha Eram (Odia: ରକ୍ତତୀର୍ଥ ଇରମ) is a small village in Bhadrak, Odisha which is also known as the second Jallianwala Bagh of India plays an important role in the history of the Indian Independence movement.

Eram is around 40 kilometers from Bhadrak and 8 kilometers from Basudevpur. On way to Eram, you have to go on Gabhei or Gamoi (Gamei) River, which played an important role during the Independence movement.

Eram village was remote, inaccessible, and far from the cities. It's surrounded by the Bay of Bengal and two rivers named Gamoi and Kansbansa and thick jungles which makes the place was sleepy and silent to reach.

From 1920, Eram was a secret place for Utkal Congress meetings, Gopabandhu Das, Harekrushna Mahatab, and other Congress leaders used Eram as a place for public meetings to share the messages about the Quit India Movement or Non-cooperation Movement of Mahatma Gandhi and to propagate the Gandhian ideals of freedom struggle among the villagers.

On 1942 September 28, there was a huge gathering at Eram to protest against British Raj and to prepare a course plan of action to fight against the British. Under the leadership of Kamala Prasad Kar, a crowd of 5000 people gathered at Eram Melana ground.

Afraid of this gathering a police force from Basudebpur police station, led by DSP Kunjabihari Mohanty march towards Eram. As like Jaliyanawala Bagh here, DSP Kunjabihari Mohanty acted as General Dyer and opened fire on the huge gathering at 6:30 PM, within few minutes 304 shots were discharged against the crowd, who were performing the agitation against the British rulers in a peaceful way.

Since the field was bounded on three sides, therefore, no one was able to get escape from the field. Within some minutes 29 persons were dead on the spot and 56 were injured.

Among the dead of Eram massacre includes one woman named Pari Bewa, who is regarded as the only lady martyr of Odisha. For this incident, Eram is popularly known as Rakta Tirtha Eram (The Pilgrim of Blood).

• Content Source: English Wikipedia
• Photographs: Sangram Keshari Senapati
• Photo rights: www.gapuphotography.com (but you are free to use with proper credit.)

Raw Mango Pickle (Odia: କଞ୍ଚା ଆମ୍ବ ଖଟା) is one of my favourite pickles. Nowadays we are missing the raw mangoes. Mangoes are easily available in summers, but you can feel the taste of Mangoes in every season through this pickle. Kindly read the entire Recipe, if you wanna make it someday.

Ingredients for Raw Mango Pickle:

1. Diced raw mango - of 1 mango
2. Jaggery/sugar - 1 cup
3. Panch poron - 1 tbsp (a mixture of Fenugreek, fennel seeds, mustard seeds, cumin seeds & black cumin seeds.1:1:2:3:1)
4. Fresh curry leaves
5. Grated ginger - 1 inch
6. Roasted cumin & dry red chilly powder (2:1)
7. Just a pinch of turmeric powder
8. Salt to taste
9. Oil - 2 tbsp
10. Hing
11. Curry leaves
12. Green chilly - 3
13. 1/2 glass of water

Making Process of Raw Mango Pickle:

1. Turn on the flame & heat the pan.
2. Add 2 tbsp oil. Once the pan is heated up then add the panch poron, hing & sliced green chillies
3. Panch poron have changed the colour & now add the curry leaves.
4. Then add the crushed ginger. Then cook it for just 1 minute on a low flame. Fry it until the raw smell of the ginger goes away.
5. Add the diced mango. Then add a pinch of turmeric powder.
6. Cook it for 4-5 minutes on a low flame. Now check it & add the jaggery/sugar. Cover the lid.
7. After 3-4 minutes check it again. Diced mangoes are softer now. Add salt to taste.
8. Cover & cook until the jaggery/sugar melts completely. Don't add a little water now.
9. Stir in between. After 4-5 minutes here the jaggery has melted completely. Now add 1/2 glass of water.
10. Cover it & cook it for more 4-5 minutes. It's been 5 minutes & the mangoes are softer now.
11. Then add 1 tbsp roasted cumin & red chilly powder in it. Stir it. Then turn off the flame.
12. Sweet mango pickle is ready. Have it with roti or parathas. You can also have it with rice & dal.

About the Author:

Khira Gaintha (Odia: କ୍ଷୀର ଗଇଁଠା) is a very delicate and extremely elevating dessert that’s unique to Odisha. This consists of balls of rice flour dough soaked in reduced cardamom flavored milk.

The rice flour is cooked with water and then kneaded to form a dough, molded into balls, and dropped into simmering milk cream.

Recipe of Khira Gaintha:

1. Boil water in a pan. Add a teaspoon of oil and a teaspoon of salt to this.
2. Now gradually and continuously add the rice flour to the water and keep stirring.
3. Make sure there aren’t any lumps. Lower the flame, cover the pan with a lid, and cook it for five minutes.
4. Take this mixture and turn it on to a wide plate. Let it cool.
5. Once it has cooled just enough knead it with your fingers so that it forms a ball.
6. Make small balls and steam them. In another deep pan boil the milk and evaporated milk.
7. Simmer in low flame until milk thickens. Add the rest of the sugar, cardamom powder and heat the milk some more.
8. Now one by one drop the rice balls into the boiling milk and continue stirring.
9. You can make a paste with 1 tablespoon of rice powder and add it to the milk to thicken it.
10. Add the coconut in the end along with slivered cashew and almonds. Serve it cool
11. Serve Khira Gaintha on its own as a delicious dessert after your satisfying meal.

About the Author:

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