The Vanishing Sea & Panchalingeswar Temple

Unlike those beautiful beaches with golden sand and crystal-clear blue water, Chandipur beach is famous for a whole different reason. It’s the phenomena of tides. The sea just literally vanishes. Hence, it is also known by names such as Vanishing Sea and Hide & Seek beach. Visiting the Panchlingeswar Temple is a definite add-on when on the same route.

Chandipur beach is located in Baleshwar district, Odisha, India. On average, it takes around 5 hours to reach here from Bhubaneswar main city, depending on the traffic. You can either hire a car or take a local bus going to Baleshwar bus stand. We hired Zoomcar service.

Starting our journey

We left from Bhubaneswar at around 6 in the morning intending to reach Chandipur by noon. I was really excited. If you are a beach lover like myself, I am sure you can imagine my excitement of the day. As usual, I sit in the front passenger seat with my camera out in my hand to capture as much as I possibly can.

Just when we were about 10km away from the beach, we came across a fish dock. We saw many boats docked with all the hustle and bustle of transferring the fishes. The air around had that fishy smell, which was intolerable for a few of us. But in the end, we found some locals sitting around the shore, with their fishing lines in hand.

They have been there for most of the day trying to catch fish and crabs either for their daily selling purpose or for their daily consumption. In Odisha, seafood is a staple diet for all, so it did not come as a surprise that someone was willing to sit for hours for the same purpose.

When we reached the beach in the afternoon, we were all a bit disappointed. We were told that it was a really beautiful beach and all those kinds of stuff. My mind was all set to see the vastness of the ocean and leisure in the water. But instead, it was all muddy and there was no beach. The shore had bloody stairs. We stood at the stairs, cursed our luck and turned back. We did not even bother to step in the water. Feeling all gloomy, we decided to explore a nearby temple – Panchlingeswar Temple.

Panchalingeswar Temple

A good decision for all. This temple got its name from the 5 (panch) Shivalinga situated at the top of a hill with a natural waterfall falling directly on the top of a Shivalinga. It is famous among the locals too. So, we were bound to be climbing a few stairs.

All exhausted after those stairs climbing, we opened our shoes (temple rules) and went in to see as to why this temple was so famous in that region. First, the view was beautiful.

Since it was on top of a mountain with a waterfall, we were rewarded with a fresh cool breeze with that amazing view. Even though we reached at noon with the sun shining gloriously upon us, we didn’t feel hot. Of course, we were sweating like pigs but it was worth it. 

Upon entering the temple, you may find various locations where religious red threads were tied around trees and railings. Pandits told us that people tie these threads with their unfulfilled wishes. 

There was not much to see around but we were not in the mood to leave this place. It was so peaceful. We sat in the nearby waterfall with our feet dipped in. We didn’t notice how an hour passed by just in the water. Finally, we decided to leave for the Chandipur beach again. Since the sea vanishes due to the tides so we knew that there must be something different to see in the evening. Now have a look at this.

Chandipur beach

That’s the sea bed. Just look at that vastness. I could not see the sea. We asked the locals and they told us that we need to walk at least 5 km on the sea bed to see the sea. We decided to skip that thought as it was starting to get dark. So, we all had our fun of clicking pictures around, had a dose of refreshing coconut water and called it a day. 

Apart from vanishing of the sea because of high tides, it is also famous for Abdul Kalam Island. This island is the location of the Ministry of Defense’s Integrated Test Range (ITR) from where several missiles have been launched. Of course, entry to this island is restricted for the public. 

Tip: Stay here at the beach for a long duration if you want to see the sea slowly vanishing.