Orissa lies along the eastern coastline of India, on the Bay of Bengal. The main attractions of the sultry state are the temples in the capital city Bhubaneswar, the long sandy beach at Puri and the great Sun Temple at Konark.

Orissa, once known as Kalinga had trading routes stretching out to Bali, Sumatra and Java was a formidable maritime empire. Great Indian emperor, Ashoka conquered Kalinga in a brutal battle near present day Bhubaneshwar. The massacre at the battlefield shocked him and he foreswore violence, converting to Buddhism, which he later helped in spreading to Sri Lanka and East Asia.