Keonjhar

Keonjhargarh (also known as Kendujhargarh, a more phonetically correct spelling) is the district headquarter of Keonjhar District in Odisha (formerly Orissa).

Get in

By road

National Highway 520 and 6 cross the city. It is also well connected by road to Bhubaneswar (270 km), Cuttack (240 km), Puri (370 km), Rourkela (270 km) and Kolkata (4200 km). Some other major cities connected by road are Jamshedpur and Ranchi.

A daily regular bus service is available from all the above cities.

By plane

There is an air strip 4 km away at Raisuan, but it has no service operating. The nearest airport is at Bhubaneswar (BBI ^IATA)- 268 km (capital of Odisha). Ranchi Airport (IXR ^IATA) is 210 km away.

By train

Keonjhar is part of Daitari-Bansapani rail link. There is one daily express train service from Puri via and Jakhapura with stops at Bhubaneswar and Cuttack (Train Number 18416).

• 1 Kendujhargarh railway station. (updated Aug 2019)

See

Temple

Temples

• 1 Baldevjew Temple. The largest temple. 
• Maa Tarinee Temple (near Anandpur (30 km)). You may go by bus or by reservation. The bus fare is ₹20 from Anandpur and ₹110 from Bhubaneswar. 
• 2 Maa Tarini Temple, Ghatgaon (40 km from Keonjhar on NH 215).  
• 3 Murga Mahadev, On the way to Jharkhand. Dedicated to Lord Shiva.  
• 4 Lord Jagannath Temple, Purusottampur village. 
• 5 Lord Hanuman Temple, Purusottampur village. 

Archaeology

• 6 Stone age rock paintings (at Sitabinji, 30 km). 

For nature lovers, there are a number of places to relax and unwind. Almost the entire district is covered with forest and dotted with waterfalls. A few of these are:

• 7 Badaghagara. waterfall  
• 8 Sanaghagara (6 km). A small but very beautiful waterfall.  
• Bhimkund. This is a beautiful waterfall on river Baitarani. Shaped like a tub (that is why named "kund", Oriya for tub), legend is that in during Mahabhatrath this was used by Bhima. 
• 9 Gundicha Ghagi. A beautiful waterfall near Ghatagaon Maa Tarini Temple. A total of 13 km. 8 km is good road + 5 km zigzag road. Go safely. 

Buy

Terracota figurines are quite distinctive, making excellent souvenirs.

Eat

Poda Pitha is specially prepared for the Rajo festival of Northern Odisha. This is also called as homey cake.

It has a few air-conditioned restaurants which serve Indian cuisine. Roadside stalls also serve Indian fast food. A speciality of this town is 2 food items that you will rarely get outside: Flower Badi (phonetically spelled close to Phoola bodi), made from black gram and is shaped like a flower; and Tata, a sweet dish offered as prasad in the Baldevjew temple.

Go next

• Simlipal National Park
• Rourkela
• Dhenkanal