Balangir
A WELL laid out town from the time of the Maharajas, Balangir still possesses the charm and serenity of the old days fashion. It is one of the major commercial towns in the western part of Orissa.Explore Incredible India with Special Holidays.

Ranipur-Jharial, 104 km from Balangir, house one among the four existing Hypaethral Temples, dedicated to sixty-four Yoginis in India a wonder in the world of archaeology and a cluster of other temples.All tour and Travel needs for India by Indian travel agent.

On the southern slope of Gandhamardan hills, Harishankar, 81 km from Balangir is a place of pilgrimage and rare scenic beauty with gurgling waterfalls.

Patnagarh, the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Patna, has somee unique momuments – 38 km from Balangir.

Also Sonepur, on the confluence of rivers mahanadi and Tel, known as Paschima Lanka is scriptures, is a nicely laid out town. 48 km from balangir, it has a cluster of temples, each having a story of its own.

History
The district of Balangir is named after the headquarters towns of Balangir. This town was also the headquarters of the feudatory state of Patna, since the eighties of the nineteenth century. Balaram Deo, the brother of Narasimha Deo, the 12th Raja of Patna, established Balangir. As Balaram Deo is known to have flourished about the middle of 16th century, the origin of the town of Balangir has also been attributed to that period. It is said that the town being founded by Balaram Deo was named after him as Balaramgarh, from which the present name Balangir has been derived. All tour and Travel needs for India by Indian travel agent.There is however no recorded evidence to support this theory. The district of Balangir is flanked in the North-west by the Gandhamardan hill, and in the north-east by the rock-infested Mahanadi. Many hill streams traverse it. It is the land of Tantrik culture. It is also notable for having experimented in the republican form of Government that was overthrown by Ramai Deo. Ramai founded the kingdom of Patna in the 14th century, which within a short span of its militant career become the head of the cluster of eighteen Garhs. The Chauhan rule ended with the merger of the state of Patna and Sonepur with Orissa on the 1st January, 1948. They together from the district of Balangir. Sonepur was carved out as a separate district on 1.4.1993.

Places to visit
Harishankar
The foaming waters sparkle vibrantly, acting as a delightful contrast to the unmelting hardness of the granite bed from which it cascades through the sun-dappled jungle.Tour Incredible India with Indian Travel agent. Echoing its joyful song, birds and bathers thronging the pool created by the swirling waters seem to give thanks to Hari and Shankar, the reigning deities of Harishankar Temple perched on the southern slope of Gandhamardan hills, the hill side is famed for medicinal plants. It is about 81 km from Balangir.

Sonepur
Set astride the confluence of the Mahanadi and Tel rivers, Sonepur, 48 km from Balangir, is an antique land with the recovery of ancient gold coins from different parts of the town underscoring its antiquity. Tour Incredible India with Indian Travel agent.Amongst the numerous temples breaking the town's skyline, the shrine of Suvarnameru Lingam holds precedence over all. The Nrusinghanath temple is the highest among them, which is 24.38 meters high. Sonepur is also called `The City of Gold'. Another temple of interest for visitors is the doorless temple of Gnyanadei Maluni, with slightly Tantric overtones which indicates that Tantrism flourished in this region for sometime. There are numerous villages around Sonepur where scores of weavers work on no less than 23,000 looms to produce exquisite textiles.

Ranipur Jharial
Located in the verdant environs of the Titilagarh sub-division in Balangir district, the twin villages of Ranipur Jharial bear strong traces of their ancient heritage. This is primarily evident in the numerous ancient temples discovered by visiting pilgrims to `Somatirtha' (as they called this region). Saivism, Vaisnavism, Buddhism and Tantrism obviously enjoyed a great deal of influence in the region. Situated on the rocky outcrops of this region are a number of temples that are of great interest to tourists.Tour Incredible India with Indian Travel agent. Located here is the hypaethral temple of the 64 yoginis. It is one of the four famous Yogini temples in India. The other three are located at Hirapur (near Bhubaneswar), Khajuraho and Bheraghat (near Jabalpur). The finest specimen of a brick temple is the 20 meters high Indralath temple. It is one of the -tallest brick temples of ancient India.