Puri

In addition to the religious contingent, Puri is also a peaceful, pleasant beach and temple town with its very own laid-back rhythm attracting its share of modern hippies and backpackers drawn by the ethos of the international hippies who colonized the east end of the beach in the '60s. Today on this part of C. T. (Chakratirtha) Road you'll find many inexpensive lodgings and shops selling the cheapest tie-dye clothing, open-air garden restaurants, bar-restaurants with live music, and shops selling bhang (marijuana)—for religious purposes, of course.

Although Puri is still touted as a beach getaway, the sand is often littered with trash, and many of the hotels near the beach send their sewage directly into the sea, despite government efforts to curb the practice—in part, a reflection of Orissa's poverty. The Fisherman's Village, a thatch-roof community perhaps 10,000 strong of families of fishermen originally from Andra Pradesh, sits on the beach at the far eastern end of town and basically has no toilets; you do the math. It's still a pleasure to watch the sun rise and set over the same miles-long beach, to watch the little fishing boats with their one colorful sail cruise the waters, and to attend the nightly aarti(Hindu ceremony) on the main beach. But if you want to swim, rent a bike and head east for a few kilometers along the beach; eventually you'll come to clean sand (or just stay at Toshali Sands resort up the coast). Don't go alone if you're a woman—incidents have occurred involving locals—and be very conscious of potential rip tides.

There's quite a bit of shopping to be attempted right in Puri even if you do not get time to visit Raghurajpur. Head over to Priyadarshini on Chakratirtha Road to buy silk fabrics and to watch ikat weaving. Hand-loom saris and materials can purchased from any of the numerous hand-loom shops near the Jagannath Temple; try Orissa Handloom House (6752/222-054). Statues carved from sandstone of gods, goddesses, Nandi bulls, couples in erotic poses are available at Shreeram Handicrafts on Chakratirtha Road (6752/221-483). Some of the best patachitra and talapatra outside of Raghurajpur can found at Natraj Handicrafts Centre, Atharnala(9937/346-030).