enroute Puri

Lush green, scenic and rather watery. We took a side route that turned out to be a bit shorter, but the potholes were patched with some tar leading to a very slow progress.

Jagannath Temple

Also closed to foreigners (though the Marijuana shops are not). No photos allowed. Yes, more dictatorship. It was anand poornima, the Orissa equivalent of Laxmipujan and the temple was overflowing with people. I couldn't believe so many people could be in one place (until we passed the Puri beach later that night anyway). Did not get to spend much time inside. The new additions/repairs/color combo seem rather tasteless.

The pole outside is originally from Konark's sun temple and clearly worthless to the religious lot around.

The shops outside are colorful and busy. Looked for Ganjifa. This is likely to be one place to get it (besides perhaps Cuttack). Bought some palmleaf exotic carvings.