The state of Orissa lies along the eastern seaboard of India, south of Bengal. Its main attraction are the temple towns of puri and Bhubaneshwar and the great Sun Temple at Konark. These three sites make a convenient and compact triangle , and Bhubaneshwar is on the main Calcutta to Madras railway route . It is predominantly rural , with fertile green coastal plains rising to the hills of the Eastern Ghats. Orissa is tapping the hydroelectric potential of its many rivers , and fledgling industries have been started . The state is mineral rich and a big exporter of iron ore with a large factory at Rourkela. However the state is still largely a region of green fields.

History : Orissa's hazy past focuses with the reign of Kalinga. In 260 BC he was defeated by Ashoka, the great India emperor,but the bloody battle left such a bitter taste with Ashoka that the converted to Buddhism and spread that gentle religion far and wide. Buddhism soon declined in Orissa, however , and jainism held sway until Buddhism reasserted itself in the 2nd century AD. By the 7th century AD Hinduism had , in turn , supplanted Buddhism and Orissa's golden age was in full swing. Under the Kesari and Ganga kings the Orissan culture flourished and countless temple from the classical period still stand today. The Orissans managed to defy the Muslim rulers in Delhi until the region finally fell to the Mughals during the 16th century. Many of Bhubaneshwar's temples were destroyed at the time.