Chilika Lake

Chilika is the great lagoon of the Odisha coast, a shimmering, pear-shaped sheet of brackish water spread across the Puri, Khurda, and Ganjam districts, its area swelling and shrinking with the seasons between roughly 900 and 1,100 square kilometres. A narrow mouth connects it to the Bay of Bengal, so its waters are neither fully fresh nor fully marine, and that mingling is the source of its extraordinary richness of life. It is important to be clear that Chilika is a lagoon, not an alpine lake: it is shallow, wide, and best experienced by boat.

In winter the lagoon becomes one of the most important migratory bird habitats on the Indian subcontinent, drawing enormous flocks from as far as Siberia, Central Asia, and the Himalayas to the reed island of Nalabana Bird Sanctuary at its centre. The other celebrated resident is the Irrawaddy dolphin, a rare, snub-nosed species best sought in the deeper channels near Satapada, where the lagoon meets the sea. Scattered across the water are small islands, among them the shrine of Kalijai, honoured in Odia folklore, and the working villages of fishing communities whose lives have turned on Chilika for centuries. Chilika is designated a Ramsar site of international importance, though it is not a UNESCO World Heritage property.

MyTripMyTravel runs Chilika as an unhurried, boat-based nature leg, staged from Puri or the state capital Bhubaneswar. Guests are given private motor-launch cruises with informed boatmen toward the dolphin channels and the bird island, briefed honestly that dolphins and birds are wild and can never be promised, and paired with the temple heritage of the Odisha coast for a fuller journey.