Choose wisely. Connect locally.Add your business 
Cuttack is the former capital and second largest city of Odisha, India, set on a strip of land between the Mahanadi and Kathajodi rivers, famous for its ancient Barabati Fort, its delicate silver filigree work and the dazzling Durga Puja that fills the city every autumn.
Its name comes from Kataka, meaning fort, after the Barabati Fort around which the city grew more than a thousand years ago, earning it the title of the Millennium City. Cuttack remained the capital of Odisha until the government moved to nearby Bhubaneswar, and it is still the seat of the Orissa High Court and a busy centre of trade.
Visitors pray at the Cuttack Chandi Temple, walk the moat of Barabati Fort, and see the house where Subhas Chandra Bose was born. Food lovers seek out dahibara aloodum and thunkapuri, while day trips lead to the island temple of Dhabaleswar, Ansupa Lake and the Buddhist ruins of Lalitgiri, Ratnagiri and Udayagiri.
Cuttack Chandi Temple, known locally as Kataka Chandi, is dedicated to the goddess Chandi, revered as the presiding deity of Cuttack, and stands near the banks of the Mahanadi. It is busiest during Durga Puja and Navaratri, when devotees queue for darshan late into the night.
Qadam-e-Rasool in Cuttack is a Muslim shrine said to hold a footprint of the Prophet Muhammad, set in a walled compound with dargahs, two mosques and old inscriptions. Its domed buildings are a fine example of Mughal-era architecture in Odisha, blended with local styles.
Dhabaleswar Temple is a Shiva temple on a river island in the Mahanadi, about 27 km from Cuttack, with stone carvings dating back to the 10th and 11th centuries. Visitors cross to it on a long suspension bridge, and the island fills with pilgrims around the Kartik Purnima festival.
Chhatia Bata is a Jagannath temple at Chhatia, between Cuttack and Jajpur, linked in local belief with Kalki, the future avatar of Vishnu. It is revered as the resting place of the saint Hadidas, whose Malika verses foretell the end of the age. It makes an easy stop on the road north from the city.
Barabati Fort is the ruin of the ancient fort around which Cuttack grew, and the city's name comes from Kataka, meaning fort. Built around 987 CE, it survives as a wide moat, an arched stone gateway and the earthen mound of a once nine-storeyed palace, close to the Mahanadi.
Netaji Birth Place Museum is Janakinath Bhawan in Cuttack, the family home where the freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose was born in 1897. The restored house displays his letters, photographs, belongings and items from the Indian National Army, along with the family's horse carriage.
Odisha State Maritime Museum in Cuttack is housed in an old workshop beside the Jobra barrage on the Mahanadi, and tells the story of Odisha's ancient sea trade with Southeast Asia. Models of boita trading ships, old cannons and navigation tools fill its halls around a quiet courtyard.
Barabati Stadium is the main cricket ground of Cuttack and home of the Odisha cricket team, set beside the old Barabati Fort. One of the older grounds in India, it hosted its first One Day International in 1982 and still stages international matches under floodlights before huge, noisy crowds.
Lalitgiri is a Buddhist site in Cuttack district, north-east of the city, and the oldest of Odisha's Diamond Triangle of Buddhist complexes. Excavations revealed a great stupa, brick monasteries and relic caskets thought to hold remains of the Buddha, now shown in its fine site museum.
Ratnagiri is a ruined Buddhist monastery on a hill about 70 km from Cuttack, once the greatest in Odisha and active from the 5th to 13th centuries. Its main monastery has a richly carved stone doorway and a colossal Buddha, and hundreds of small votive stupas surround the central stupa.
Udayagiri is the largest Buddhist complex in Odisha and part of the Diamond Triangle with Lalitgiri and Ratnagiri, north-east of Cuttack. Known in ancient times as Madhavapura Mahavihara, it has a large brick stupa, monasteries and a stepped stone well set against wooded hills.
Ansupa Lake is a horseshoe-shaped freshwater lake on the left bank of the Mahanadi, about 40 km from Cuttack, framed by the green Saranda Hills, bamboo and mango groves. A protected Ramsar site since 2021, it draws migratory birds in winter and offers boating for visitors.
No reviews yet. Been to Cuttack? Be the first to share your experience.
Share what you loved, what to skip and tips for other travelers.
Log in to write a reviewBeen to Cuttack? Add your best shots to the gallery.
Log in to add photosPhoto: Bikashrd, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Ranjan Kumar Panigrahi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Nirmalbarik, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Tessarman, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Adityanag2002, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Coldbreeze16, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Psomu800, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Rupeshsarkar, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Coldbreeze16, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Rangan Datta Wiki, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Kamalakanta777, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Rupeshsarkar, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Sidsahu, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Sankarrukku at English Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: Diptiman Panigrahi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Photo: Diptiman Panigrahi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Photo: Diptiman Panigrahi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Photo: @jhichidu, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Daniel Limma, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Daniel Limma, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Daniel Limma, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Daniel Limma, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Daniel Limma, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Subhashish Panigrahi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Gouravmoy Mohanty, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Gouravmoy Mohanty, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Gouravmoy Mohanty, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Kamalakanta777, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Kamalakanta777, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Kamalakanta777, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Kamalakanta777, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Rupeshsarkar, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Rupeshsarkar, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Rupeshsarkar, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Chinmaykp25, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Kishor Kumar Mishra, 787/A, Jayadev Vihar, Bhubaneswar-751013, Odisha, India, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Amartyabag, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Amartyabag, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Amartyabag, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Kritzolina, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Krushna C Mahapatra, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Rkrajat, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Arnabkumar01, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
