The Sun Temple

Puri is in a 'golden triangle' with 2 other towns on or near the east coast of Orissa, Konark and Bhubaneshwar.

Went to the Sun Temple at Konark yesterday which is magnificent and designed as a chariot with 24 wheels and seven horses drawing it.

Lots of odissi dance poses are carved into the first structure you come to, the Matamandir which was used as a dancing or meeting hall.

Then on to the next building where there are mythical carvings at children’s height; above that erotic sculptures for youth and then at the top level for the more mature, more spiritual carvings. However, my neck just creaked trying to hold the pose for long enough.

Just met some great Canadians (from Toronto of course!) who are bicycling from Calcutta to Chennai and they've given me a similar place to this hotel (albeit a bit dirtier!) to stay in Calcutta, and lots of encouragement about spending time in the city and in Shantiniketan, so I think that I will head directly there in a few days. Got some information about the wildlife sanctuaries which are north of here and I was planning to visit, but I'm told that by the time I get permissions and transport access I will have paid a small fortune, so I think I'll just make do with a Rs110 tourist office excursion to Chillika Lake tomorrow!