An old river city with a different landscaping brief
Cuttack's position on the banks of the Mahanadi and Kathjodi rivers, combined with its status as one of Odisha's oldest urban centres, gives it a residential fabric quite different from the more recently planned Bhubaneswar. Older houses, established institutional grounds and riverside properties dominate the landscaping brief here, and the emphasis tends to fall more on hard-wearing, functional stone than on elaborate decorative schemes, reflecting both the age of the building stock and the practical demands of a riverside, flood-prone environment.
Drainage pebbles and natural river pebbles are the most consistently requested materials, doing double duty as ground cover in courtyards and as a functional layer in beds that need to handle standing water reasonably well during the wetter months.