South Odisha’s Gajapati hills hide some of the state’s most distinctive stops, and this day tour links them from Berhampur: the forested Taptapani sulphur hot spring and the serene Padmasambhava Mahavihara at Jirang — the largest Buddhist monastery in eastern India — with an optional climb to the ancient Mahendragiri hill temples.
A hill day in the Eastern Ghats
The roads here wind through the Eastern Ghats, so we run this in an SUV or Innova with a driver who knows the ghats. Reach Berhampur first on our Bhubaneswar Airport to Berhampur taxi, and see the Berhampur guide and nearby Tara Tarini and Gopalpur-on-Sea to build a longer south-Odisha trip.