Half day tour to Baruva Beach in AP

Me with Lingaraj Prasad Amulya Pattnaik

It was a sudden programme which sadly we had been planning for a long time and yet we could not go there, but yesterday evening when I was back from college and informed at home that we have a three day holiday, my wife suggested we visited the Baruva Beach in Andhra Pradesh which is just about an hour of journey from Berhampur and I agreed.

Long back, about an year ago, one friend of mine on Facebook Shri Lingaraj Prasad Pattnaik, resident of Baruva had invited me to go there to witness the religious environment of that area and to understand how much of the Odishan temple structure as well as living remained in the same region. I was surprised to learn that there are as many as 41 Jagannath Temples in that region which is perhaps the most densely present temple in any place outside Odisha. I had been planning a lot for going to Baruva beach resorts for sometime but sadly, due to last minute change in schedule I could not go there. Thankfully today was an exception and with no prior appointments I had much leisure to pursue on a small drive and to see a good place and know about the history and also bio-diversity of the same region.

a view of the sea beach at Baruva

Last night when the programme was chalked out I sent a message to Lingaraj Babu and intimated that we are reaching Baruva in the morning, and he gladly did call me in the morning but sadly our tour programme had to be postponed till the afternoon. And he informed that we reach there rather late since the temperature would be suitable for moving around.

After lunch, we began our journey on the National Highway 5 from Berhampur towards Vishakhapatnam. We were crossing villages and highway side towns one after the other. There were, Kanisi, Haldiapadar, Panchama, Sidhabhairavi, NIST, RIT, Girisola check gate and then Icchapuram. One by one these roadside towns were moving back as we surged forward towards our destination. Crossing Girisola checkgate took sometime, thanks to the long queue of Trucks on the road and also because of the cars and vehicles which were coming on the wrong side of the road. After we crossed the check gate there was no stopping us as we zoomed towards Somepeta, the next major station from where we were to take a left turn to reach the beach.

Sunset at Baruva Sea Beach

Just before Somepeta we had a toll gate where we had to cough out 95 rupees to cross the gate and visit the place. (It was a two way ticket though). After the check gate we entered in to Somepeta town and some friendly people did guide us and with little trouble (narrow lanes of the town, where driving was a difficult task) we finally reached the place where as someone informed us there will be a statue of Anjaneya (Hanuman) which will be about 30 Feet high, from there we took to left side and there were some high and low roads and then some roads on both side of which there were tall coconut trees and we reached the beach. The journey took about an hour and half.

On the right side of the beach just behind some sand hills there were cottages built by the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation. They were looking very nice, sadly I could not take photos, and I plan to go there again to see the same and take some good shots. There on the beach we met with Shri Lingaraj Prasad Amulya Pattnaik, who came with a friend of his with a gift of KHOYA ( ଖୁଆ / ମିଠା ) and then we were engrossed in talks about the place, He informed me that a team of volunteers from Salim Ali Foundation from Mumbai was there for shooting birds and that they do it in the morning. He informed me that I must visit the place again in the morning so that we can go bird watching and shooting them with our lenses.

Baruva Jagannath Temple

The beach was huge and there were very less people but it looked like it had become a dumping yard of plastic and polythene, which he informed us that there was a great occasion on the 8th of February called Mahabaruni Snana during which as many as fifteen lakh devotees throng to this small beach and thanks to them the beach now looks like this. I wonder why our people do not feel bad littering the sand and putting their filth there. I had noticed the same everywhere, in all the beaches. People go there for religious bathing rituals and then throw things on the beach.

We moved from the beach towards Baruva town and there on the way we noticed people celebrating Dola Purnima, although in a different manner unlike the way we do here in Odisha, but Lingaraj Babu informed that the true Jagannath Sanskruti Originated in that region of the country which spread to Puri in the later stage and to prove that he informed that there are as many as 41 Jagannath temples in that small area.

Dola Purnima in a make shift swing

Dola Purnima at Baruva Temple

Dola Mandapa and Gods

Gods on Bimana doing rounds of the town

Tha Jagannath temple in Baruva was a nice place, except that we noticed the walls of the temple had been transformed by adding tiles on the walls and the old artefacts of the temple have been hidden behind these tiles. What more we saw was the Bimana (Chariot) of the lords, I saw one of these after almost twenty years, I remember the last time I saw something like this was in my village when I was studying in school. Then we saw the Dola Purnima celebration once more.

Koti Lingeswar temple

Then He asked me to follow him through a narrow lane to another temple at the end of the town. I had a very difficult time in travelling to that place with vehicles and bullock carts parked in front of each of the houses, it was a daunting task to drive the long car with care in those narrow lanes and there we reached the Kotilingeswar Temple, the temple of one crore Shiva Lingam. According to mythology, this temple was from the era of Mahabharat and did happen because of Arjuna, the great worrier from the five pandavas. He also informed me that the pandavas hid in this place during the Ajnat basa in mahabharat times and aslo there was some more places of mythological importance, but sadly I had not much time in hand as it was becoming dark and my infant son was becoming intolerant to all the travel and moving about programmes and so we had to call it a day.

Koti Lingeswar in the temple (Each one is as small as a small teal (Sorisha))

While a lot more was left to be seen, and as per his version this area has a large variety of flora and fauna which need to be explored and preserved and so I promised that I would return again to do the necessary and shoot some birds in the area.

While coming back Lingaraj babu came along and showed us the way towards the National highway, which was much closer and we did not have to cross the Somepeta Town again. A three kilometer drive left us on the national highway and it was dark all around. While the India-Bangladesh cricket match was there in the back of the mind of my father in law who was with us during the tour, we drove at the swiftest pace towards home, and on the way after the Girisola Check Gate we stopped by a small temple where there was a huge statue of Lord Hanuman, it was a feast for the eyes and I took a few more shots of the same with my mobile because using the camera would have taken some more time and everyone was in a hurry to reach home early and we drove back home and reached home in short of an hour.

Anjaneya Statue near Girisola Check Gate

This tour was very refreshing and we had not gone out on a tour like this for quite sometime and I loved the journey and also the driving experience with my new Hyundai Xcent car. I am eagerly waiting to go out again to the same place and do some birding and relax on the beach.

Description: A half day tour to Baruva Beach in Andhra pradesh