Before proceeding to tell you more about orissa mentioned below are some basic facts of Orissa:

Capital  Bhubaneswar Area  1,55,707 sq. kms.
Language  Oriya Population  31,512,070
Monsoon  July - October Summer  27 C to 49 C
Best Season October-March Winter 5 C to 16 C 

Orissa is located on India's northeast coast of Indian Peninsula between 170 and 280 East Longitude, slightly arched by the placid blue waters of the Bay of Bengal on the East. It is bounded by the Bay of Bengal in the east and the states of West Bengal in the northeast, Bihar in the north, Madhya Pradesh in the West, and Andhra Pradesh in the south. The capital of Orissa is Bhubaneswar. Bhubaneswar is also the most populated city in Orissa. Cuttack and Puri are two other cities with high populations. The state can be divided into four distinct geographical regions, each with different and unique characteristics i.e., Coastal plains, Eastern hills, the Central river basin and the Northern plateau. This rural riverine land of multi-splendours, is watered by the rivers Mahanadi, Brahmani, and Vaitarani flowing in the south-easternly direction before merging in the Bay of Bengal. These rivers and their tributaries provide the state with rich alluvial tracts.

Orissa is possessed of an extensive plateau in the interior with sprawling coastal plains in the foreground. This plateau, an undulating upland, gently slopes down towards the Bay of Bengal. Its extensive palm fringed coast-line running to 482 kms., serene holiday beaches, pronounced rural environs, charming blue hills rising here and there abruptly from the plains and the plateau, green wood-lands, rock caves, so fascinatingly sculptured temples and other monuments , picturesque mud villages set in greens, modern industrial leviathans, colourful and gay tribals and so rich and varied handicrafts make Orissa a miniature India.

Bhubaneshwar, the capital of Orissa is the land of temples. During ancient times, there were nearly 2,000 temples out of which only 500 survive today. The ravages of nature and the large scale destruction of the temples by the Muslim invaders, has led to the drastic fall in the number of temples existing today in Bhubaneshwar.