Bhitara Kanika was under the jurisdiction of the erstwhile Kanika Estate. It is covered with deep mangrove forests and saline rivers and was declared a sanctuary on 21.04.1975. It is a world famous place for natural crocodile breeding. The sanctuary is full of heavenly natural beauty and has innumerous animals like deers, wild boars, monkeys, monitors, pythons and king cobras.

Kanika Palace is a massive palace constructed by the King of Kanika, Rajendra Narayan Bhanja Deo. It is constructed on an area of 4 acres of land and the height of the structure is 75 feet. It is situated in Rajkanika Block and is around 50 km from the district headquarters. The beauty of the palace is unbelievable.

This is the first lighthouse installed in eastern coast of India. It is around 45 KM from District HQ. It is situated in a village named Batighar, on the other bank of river Kharinasi. It is surrounded with pleasant natural beauty. Once upon a time, this was known as Kaudia Dwip and used as hunting ground of Kujanga Kings. Construction of this lighthouse was started on 6th December, 1836 and it was lighted on 16th October 1837. The stones used were transported from Barabati Fort, Cuttack. The height is 125 feet, foundation wall is 15 feet thick. The diameter at land level is 10 feet. To reach the top, 138 steps made of cement concrete and a 16-step ladder are there. The speciality of this lighthouse is that it is operational from the date of its lighting and presently it is managed by Calcutta Light House.

In front of the Batighar, it was the first modern port of Odisha coastline. At the mouth of river Mahanadi & Jamboo, this port was commissioned in the year 1855 and was in working condition till 22nd October 1924. A devastating storm on 22nd September 1885 completely destroyed this port. There was a submerged ship in the nearby sea, which is the reminiscent of the past glory.

It is situated in Ichhapur, 5kms from Tinimuhani chhak. Here one can see the beautiful temple with other small temples in its side exhibiting the architectural marvel of the ancient Odisha. Lord Baladev is the main deity worshipped in the temple along with his brother and sister. An idol representing Tulasi as Goddess in a seated position is also present after the sacred seven steps. The deities wear different costumes and are decorated in different ways during various important festivals. The chariot on which the three deities mount during the Car Festival is known as “Brahma Taladhwaja Rath”. This is said to be the biggest chariot in the world.

Gadadhara Pitha: The place is situated on the bank of river Chitrotpala in Garadpur block of the district. It is 30 kms away from the district headquarters. This is a sacred religious spot associated with “Mahapurusha Gadadhara”, the son of Saint Achyuta. Owing to its mythological and religious importance, lot of tourists visit the spot to enjoy the scenic and serene atmosphere of the locality.

Laxmi Baraha Jew Temple , Aul : This temple is situated in Aul block near Aul Palace which is 36 kms form district headquarters. The predecessors of Ali Royal family had constructed this temple. Here, God Laxmi Baraha is being worshipped in the main temple. There is a small stone in the temple premises, which is difficult to lift. Generally, many devotees gather here on Tuesday and Saturday.

Badakotha a legendary monument which was then named so due to its hugeness and also first in the State of Odisha. More than three hundred years back King Narendra s Palace front elevation was called as Badakotha. River Gobari passes in the front side of the building and in the backside a stream of water called as Madhusagar which is now dried up was passing. The other two sides were covered with high walls. The structure is a huge two storied building having pair of rooms in two sides. A passage in the middle of building is of 40 feet length and 15 feet width both in top and ground. The building has front side portico and backside portico. Each room is of 500 square foot. The height of the building is 40 feet with a curved staircase. The thickness of the wall is 40 inches. On each side porticos are rested on round pillars. In total the structure stand on 5000 square feet area. After passing of the time many parts of the structure were destroyed yet the shadow still exists. Among all tourist places of this region Badakotha is one of them. Now also old and very old men used to come to witness Badakotha and pay respect to the elegant structure as a mark of honour to king Narendra s dynasty. Badakotha s stones bricks and limes are silent evidence of king Radhasyam Narendra s efficacy whom people regarded as equal as God. There is a peopie saying SWARGE INDRA MARTYE NARENDRA. The King s dynasty made a symbol of sacrifice in history of Odisha. In the time of the dynasty rule religious service with rich culture bestowed upon art music and governance. In the year 1866 the great famine NANKA miserably affected the People of Odisha by causing thousands and thousands of starvation death. The King Radhasyam Narendra stood up and supplied food grains to secure no starvation death in the state of Odisha. The then Queen Elizabeth acknowledged the generosity of the King and accorded free gun use without licence as a token of gratitude. She also wrote a letter of thanks which was delivered by then Commissioner Ravenshaw Saheb to the King. Not only this before famine George Campbell the then Governor of Odisha recommend the name of Radhashyam Narendra to be enthroned as GAJAPATI as the then Gajapati Maharaja was ailing and also childless. This could not be materialised due to Maharani brought stay order from Patna High Court by adopting a son. All British emissaries who were used to come to Kendrapara rested at Badakotha Non the less the building became a rest place of West and East. It was a place of Governance since inception. Once it was a place of religious sanctuary where Sadhus from all over lndia used to come and used to stay for four months of rainy season. It was a practice Sadhus used to come to Puri to worship Lord Jagannath then they came to Kendrapara to worship elder brother of Lord Jagannath Lord Baladeva. Sri Radha Gobinda Jew s temple of King Narendra s was the place of congregation of all Sadhus. Sadhus were fed and the King met all other necessities. This long stay of Sadhus inspired people and they came close to them. Through interaction people learnt Hindi and other Hindustani cultures. Apart from Naga and other Sadhu like Mohapurusa Arakhita Das remained here and went Olasuni cave for meditation. Sadhus like Sri Chaitanya Deb Sri Ram Das Sri Madhu Das Sri Fagu Das and Bala Baba were in touch with the family and rested at Badakotha. At the time of Muslim rule many Fakir used to make their break journey and stayed at Badakotha. Kendrapara is a symbolic place of co existence of Hindu & Muslim. Worship of PIR BABA by both the communities was a holy practice then. Apart from religious activities Music and Art had a special role at Badakotha. The migrated King Abhimanyu Samant Singhara the great poet was the son in law of the dynasty and Gobinda Sur Deo the Prince of Nayagarh a master in folk dance was also son in law of this family. They used to stay at Badakotha. The grand son of King Narendra Gokul Chandra Srichandan and his nephew Banikantha Sri Nimain Charan Harichandan were veteran musicians. Gokul Babu served as music director at New theatres of Kolkata. His collegues like Bade Golam Ali Khan Mustari Bai Mustaq Ali and Ray Chand Baral used to stay as family s host and prepared Jalsa etc. at Badakotha. Dancers from all over India used to visit Kendrapara and stay at Badakotha to perform dance on the occasion of Dola Festival of Sri Govinda Jew. Badakotha was flooded with music and dance. Badakotha is so popular among general public that it stands as an instance in public talk for quality richness and purity. History narrates the migrated Jana brothers Jana Kurup Singh & Jana Anup Singh were nephew of Rana Jasobanta Singh the then Maharaja of Jodhpur were settled at Panikoili under Jajpur area near Jagannath Sadak. All pilgrims including Sadhus used to pass by that road to visit Lord Jagannath. Once an epidemic started and killed many passers by. This Jana family served them and saved many lives. Among those Sadhus some brought the notice of the Gajapati Moharaja about their magnanimity. Gajapati sent messenger to bring those two brothers to Puri. Two brothers met Gajapati and narrated the story of their plight due to Rana Ajit Singh s (son of Jasabanta Singh) unilateral ceasefire with Aurangzeb which compelled them to leave Kingdom. Gajapati was not convinced and asked them to give a test of their cast and creed. The brothers agreed. Younger brother Anup Chandra told his elder brother he will give the test first. Accordingly Anup rode a horse and ordered to go. A sword was hanged on such a height the passer had to bend his head at the time of passing on riding the horse. As both the brothers were Kshatriya by cast the younger brother s did not bow his head and was beheaded. Gajapati did not allow the elder brother to give the test.This act of bravery pleased the Gajapati and settled them there where they were staying and named the place as Jodha Gada. ln Course of time Gajapati Ram Chandra Deb II was arrested by Muslim Subedar Taqui Khan and was imprisoned at Barabati Fort. The then Rajguru asked Jana Kurup Singh to help and free the Gajapati. Jana Kurup with the help of platoon of Khurda Paika killed Taqui Khan and freed the Gajapati. This act of courage impressed Gajapati Ram Chandra Dev 2nd and allotted huge landed property in the coast of Bay of Bengal and named the area as Mogal Bandi In the year 1740 Jana Kurup Singh shifted to Kendrapara with his family and settled permanently here and the Gajapati declared Kendrapara an Estate and made Jana Kurup Singh a King. His great Grand son throned the temple of titular deity LORD GOBINDA in the year 1799. The aspect of governance from pre independence to post independence the dynasty and Badakotha played a significant role not limited to time. After invasion Marahatta s ruled India and Subedars used to come to Badakotha to consult the course of action for governance. Britishers were also do the same. At the time of pre independence stalwarts like Madhu Barrister Gopabandhu Choudhury Malati Devi were taking shelter here at Badakotha as cordial host. On the advise of Madhu Barrister Byasa Kabi Fakir Mohan Senapati was appointed as Dewan of Kendrapara Estate in year 1899 on 27th October. He served for a year. After independence veteran parliament members like Sri Surendra Dwibedy Sri Surendra Mohanty Sri Rabi Roy and Sri Praduymna Bal Pravat Samantray stayed at Badakotha for different political works. Assembly members and ministers like Sri Jadumani Mangaraj Sri Dinabandhu Sahoo Sri Prahallad Mallick used to stay at Badakotha for political discussion on many occasion. Then veteran politicians of the state Ex Ministers and assembly and parliament member like Sri Sarat Kumar Deb Sri Srikanta Jena Sri Bijaya Mohapatra Sri Nalini Mohanty Sri Ganeswar Behera and Sri Bhagabat Prasad Mohanty were regular host of the family on many occasion. Present veteran Assembly member Debendra Sharma and Ansuman Mohanty also occasional visitor to the place. On the whole BADAKOTHA resembled the glory of religion social culture art music and governance. All its dust will speak the long 300 years history of the dynasty along with super heads of the era. Courtesy District Culture Officer Kendrapara