My first visit to what was then ‘Orissa’, and now has been renamed ‘Odisha’, was in 1961, when I had gone to Puri. Lord Jagannath, the reigning deity of the state – as at present – benignly presided over the state from his great temple. The sun-’n-sand were great, limitless attractions, but there were very few decent accommodation choices. There was the legendary B.N.R. (Bengal Nagpur Railway) Hotel (called Chanakya B.N.R.Hotel now) with a room which was considered expensive at Rs 22 per night. It was a sprawling colonial throwback of the excellent kind and offered very large rooms, very good food and very good service. The atmosphere was more of a very good club than a hotel with a library furnished with big, comfortable leather sofas and chairs, a dining room, verandahs, uniformed waiters, huge lawns and garden and a distinctive ‘Koi  hai’−atmosphere. It did offer very gracious and comfortable living. But then it WAS expensive for those times. So, after a three-day stay I shifted to the other good choice, the Puri Hotel.

Now, a huge sprawling complex with a number of multi-storied buildings, the Puri Hotel then was just one bungalow boasting a handful of rooms, with just the narrow road separating it from the beach and the seas. Run by the Halder family, there’s was like a homestay, with excellent home-cooked food served lovingly by the motherly Mrs. Halder. “Have another hot ‘luchi’.…this ‘paesh’ is my own recipe….these ‘chingri’ (prawns) are freshly caught…….” Mrs. Halder mothered and indulged us while Mr. Halder looked on, enhancing the meals with his benign smiles. It was a memorable stay. The tariff was Rs 7 per day, stay and all meals included. Mention must also be made of the representative of our Family-panda (family priest) who was ‘in charge’ of generations of my family from the remote parts of the country – now in Pakistan – from where my people originally come from. He was my guide, friend and philosopher during my ten-day stay. He would come daily, arranged for my ‘darshan’ at the Lord Jagannath Temple, showed me around, helped me with my shopping and regaled me with my family legends and Puri-lore/history. Not many of today’s tourist guides can match up to that simple, helpful man. He really made my stay much more comfortable.

Over two decades later, my association with Odisha was renewed. For many, many years, I responded – very frequently and very happily – to ‘the Call of Odisha’.  I had many opportunities to enjoy the wonders which our neighboring state has to offer: rich history-and-culture, sun-‘n-sands, great temples with their typical  Kalinga architecture, the vast Chilika Lake with its very interestingly-named islands, dolphins and migratory birds; the serene verdant rural landscapes, tribal treasures, textiles, arts and crafts and the villages where every family is either artists or sculptors, dance and drama, some of the best prawns ever, the unique caramelized-cottage cheese sweet Chenna Poda….The list of this state’s tourist attractions is seemingly endless. I enjoyed it all. Over and over again.

Odisha also gave me an opportunity to be useful and lend a hand in the development of tourism in the state. I had the good fortune to work with some of the pioneers in the field of tourism in Odisha like S.M. Gani of the Tourism Department, J.K. Mohanty of the Swosti Group, T. Benambar Patra of the Toshali Group, Dr. S.K. Nanda (one time director of tourism) and some other very dedicated officers of Odisha Tourism, and quite a few others. Over the years, it was extremely satisfying for me to see tourism in the state develop slowly (?) but surely. In the early stages of tourism development, in the 1980s, there was the very impressive Toshali Sands, of Benambar Patra – the first and path-breaking resort in the state. There was J.K .Mohanty’s extremely popular Swosti Hotel. Then, some 23 years ago, the Mayfair Resort, Puri, created waves with its magnificence. The first general manager of this resort, Ravi Mahapatra, put his heart and soul in making this beautiful property a hospitality landmark. Despite many obstacles, Odisha was on the tourism-development path.

The cyclone of 1999 wreaked havoc with Odisha. Tourism was among the big casualties. In the course of time, the state not only recovered but entered the fast-track of tourism development.

I was quite involved in helping the tourism effort recover from the post-cyclone trauma for quite a few years. However, at a point of time, I got so enamored with Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Malaysia, and – lately – Vietnam, that I could not travel to Odisha for quite some time.  So when my granddaughter, Keya – visiting me from the United States – expressed a desire to visit Odisha, I jumped at the chance.

It was like a ‘ghar wapsi’ of the superb-kind, full of pleasant surprises. The Biju Patnaik International Airport is an extremely impressive addition to Bhubaneswar, a far cry from the former ‘village’ airport. The roads in Bhubaneswar – and the whole state in general – are wide, clean and impressive. My old friend, A. Talukdar, VP of Hotel Crown in Bhubaneswar welcomed me most effusively like a long lost brother and helped me with all the logistical details of the visit, making it painless and hassle-free. The Crown was as impressive as ever, shining spotlessly clean-and-bright. The staff was cheerful bright, friendly and extremely helpful. If the over-flowingly full house at the breakfast buffet is an indication, the hotel is doing very well, thank you. All credit to Mr. Talukdar and his team.

Driving in Odisha is always a treat; passing through verdant and serene rural landscapes is a soothing experience. The drive to Konark was no exception, except that the volume of traffic – it was so all the time during my visit – was much, much more than what I had experienced before.

Even on a week day, the Sun Temple at Konark was overflowing with appreciative and awed visitors. Mostly domestic. That one side of what remains of the temple was more-scaffolding-than-monument did not at all interfere with the enjoyment of the visitors. The grounds are nicely landscaped and well-maintained. Even though the temple – also known as the ‘Black Pagoda’ – has suffered through the ravages of time, winds-and-sands and many of the superb sculptures are getting blurred, enough remains as a testimony to it being one of the greatest temples in the world. Even 4 hours were not enough to get more than just a feel of this World Heritage temple. Its popularity can also be gauged by many hotels, resorts and eating places which have come up in the recent times.

The Konark – Puri Marine Drive has been improved a great deal and was a pleasant and comfortable drive.

But, the Big Surprise was Puri. The once less-than-a-kilometer Puri Marine Drive is now many kilometers long, studded with numberless modern hotels with extremely impressive facades. The place was buzzing with huge crowds on the beach enjoying all manner of seaside pleasures, including – yes – camel rides. Camels in Puri? Yes indeed!

The Mayfair Resort has spawned a new and beautiful ‘child’. Across the road from The Mayfair Heritage Resort is the about a-year-old Mayfair Waves, a multi-storey addition. Extremely tastefully and rather quaintly done up as all the Mayfair properties, the view from my second floor room balcony was an uninterrupted sea view, for as far as the eye could see. The room was contemporary-luxurious with a high degree of functional efficiency. But the best part was just sitting in the balcony and watching the world go by in slow-motion. The on-going drama on the beach was a kaleidoscope of boats, people, horses, camels, fishermen and more. A counterpoint to the grayish sea was the brilliant emerald-green of the swimming pool with a wall-image of Buddha awash with fountain-waters as a line of big white wooden swans watched in approval. It was as lovely as it can get at a seaside. Memorable.

The visit to the Lord Jagannath Temple was as impressive an experience as ever. But what was also very impressive was to witness a continuous stream of people who stood outside the Singha Dwar, faced the temple and with arms raised in supplication, prayed long and hard for the Lord’s blessings.

A short stopover at the very crowded Dhauli Hill Peace Pagoda to pay respects to Lord Buddha, enjoy the panoramic view and buy some of the famous Odisha cashews-and-spices, and it was way back to Bhubaneswar. It was Dhauli where Emperor Ashok, after the bloody Kalinaga War, became a pacifist and started spreading the message of Peace. The Ashokan Rock Edict at Dahuli details the happenings of those times.

A night at The Crown, some excellent Prawn Cutlets, a comfortable night and it was the flight back to Kolkata, clutching the precious packet of Chenna Poda bought at the airport.

A short but memorable renewal of my association with Odisha.

God willing and weather permitting, I shall return.

My first visit to what was then ‘Orissa’, and now has been renamed ‘Odisha’, was in 1961, when I had gone to Puri. Lord Jagannath, the reigning deity of the state – as at present – benignly presided over the state from his great temple. The sun-’n-sand were great, limitless attractions, but there were v