Satapada Dolphin
Our country India is full of natural beauties, here thousands of beautiful places includes waterfalls, forest, hills, rivers and beaches are present those make this land heaven. Chilika is one of them; it's the largest costal lagoon and favorite destination of millions of migratory birds. Every year Chilika Lake hosts more than 160 species of birds during the peak migratory season, birds from various places like Lake Baikal, Caspian Sea, Aral Sea and some other remote parts of different countries like Russia, Kirghiz steppes of Mongolia, Central and Southeast Asia and Ladakh come here for spending winter season. Also from our country from Himalayas many types of birds come to Chilika. Chilika is nearer to Puri, so the tourist those Visited Puri they also like to Visit Chilika Lake. For this reason the Chilika Tourism Corporation designed special Chilika Tour Packages within which they included Puri, Konark and Chilika Tours.
The scenic beauty of Chilika Lake attracts tourist toward this wonderful tourist site, here at Rambha Bay that is situated at southern end of the lake, many beautiful islands are present The Becon Island, The Breakfast Island, Honeymoon Island, Birds island etc. Parikud and Kalijai Island are most visited islands in Chilika. Kalijai Island is famous because of Maa Kalijai Temple every day many devotees coming to Chilika with the purpose to worship Maa Kalijai and along with that experience the extraordinary beauty of Chilika Lake.
As it's the second largest lagoon in the world, so tourist from foreign countries also comes to visit this place, Dolphins and migratory birds are the prime attraction in Chilika for foreign tourist. Wildlife lovers around the globe like to visit Chilika and stay here to experience the finest eco-system of this place and the varieties of wild life those are leaving here. The luxury Hotels in Chilika provides good accommodation facilities for the tourist those visited Chilika and stay there.
Chilika have a finest eco-system that creates a suitable environment for growth of plants and animals. Thousands of varieties of plants, animals and fish are leaving in this environment. So wildlife researchers come to this place to upgrade their research and knowledge about wild animals.
So if you still didn't visit Chilika then plain a Chilika Tour or Puri Tour in which Chilika is also included its increase your knowledge about wildlife and birds along with that gives you high end of pleasure and enjoyment.
The nearest airport to Chilika is situated at Bhubaneswar which is 105 km from Barkul, 110 km from Satapada and 130 km from Rambha.
Calcutta-Chennai railway route of South Eastern Railways touches Chilka Lake at Balugaon, Chilika, Khallikote and Rambha. The nearest railway station for Barkul is located at Balugaon at a distance of 5 km from Chilka.
Chennai National Highway No. 5 linking Calcutta (689 km), Cuttack (132 km) and Visakhapatnam (348 km) can be used to reach the lake. OTDC and other private tour operators provide luxury coaches and cars from Puri (127 km) and Bhubaneswar (108 km).
Chilka experiences a tropical climate and weather remains moderately warm year round. October to March would be the best season to visit Chilka, because it is the time when the lake is visited by the migrating birds. Devotees and pilgrims come to Chilka in the month of January during Makar Mela (at the time of Makar Sankranti) to pay homage to the Goddess Kalijai. The temple of Goddess Kalijai is situated on the Kajali Island in Chilka Lake.
From March to June, Chilka experiences summer season. The maximum temperature reaches up to 250C and the minimum temperature recorded is 200C.
The monsoon season in Chilka experiences a good rainfall as the region is swept by South West monsoon. The monsoon in Chilka spans from July to October.
Winter spans from November to February. A maximum temperature of 220C and the minimum temperature of about 70C are experienced during this season. This is considered as the best time to visit Chilka.
Comfortable accommodation in Chilka for tourists is available throughout the year. There are many good hotels in Chilka, which offer comfortable rooms with all basic amenities. Kalijai Dharmasala, Balugaon. Patro Lodge, Hawa Mahal, Panthanivas, OTDC, Rambha Narayani Lodge are some of the hotels in Chilka which provide outstanding accommodation services.
Makar Mela: Pilgrims flock to Chilka in January during Makar Mela which is one of the major festivals in Chilka. People pay veneration to the Goddess Kalijai during this festival.
Apart from Makar Mela, common north Indian festivals like Holi and Diwali are also celebrated in the whole region.
