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Odisha Part 11: Discovering the Jaina Heritage of Odisha at the caves of Udaygiri and Khandgiri

The Hindu and Buddhist history of Odisha , or rather, ancient Kalinga, is rather well known to everyone. Who hasn’t heard of the grand temples of Odisha – Puri, Lingaraj and Konark, or the great war of Kalinga which inspired Ashoka to convert to Buddhism? In contrast, very few know of the Jaina heritage of this region. This is quite a pity, since, just around 7 km from the city, is one of India’s most ancient inscriptions, which throws light on the Jaina heritage of Odisha. This inscription is the Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela, in the hills of Udaygiri. Udaygiri and Khandgiri are two hills located opposite each other, and both are testaments to the rich Jaina heritage of Odisha. The caves at Udaygiri are older, while Khandgiri is relatively newer, but has lasted much longer, and continues to be a place of pilgrimage for Jains even today. These hills, from inscriptions and excavations of caves, shrines and rock beds, appear to have been a haven for Jaina monks, right from the ...
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Indibloggies 2008 Winners Announced

The Indibloggies 2008 results are out, and while I am not on the list, it was great just to be nominated among those whose blogs I have been following for quite some time. I have had a lot of fun going through all the blogs which were nominated, and it was a great pleasure to read about those who won.

In the travel category, the winner is Lakshmi, and hearty congratulations to her!!

Check out all the winners by clicking on the link below..

Indibloggies 2008 Winners Announced | Indibloggies - The Indian Weblog Awards | Indian Blog Awards



P.S. I am trying out new things everyday... This has been posted using the Blog This! Chrome Extension...

Comments

  1. LakshmiDecember 18, 2009 at 10:41 AM

    Thanks Anu for the mention and wishes..Congrats to you too..:)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bhavesh ChhatbarDecember 22, 2009 at 4:57 PM

    So generous of you Anu!

    Also, your new try worked fine :) I found one problem with it however. If I click on the post title "Indibloggies 2008 Winners Announced", it's taking me to their site, not opening your post!

    And oh yes, I recently went to Bhangarh. You may like it.

    Again, you're very generous.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anuradha ShankarDecember 24, 2009 at 2:13 PM

    @Lakshmi : thanks a lot..

    @Bhavesh: thanks for telling me... guess i have linked directly to the other one...

    and i loved your Bhangarh post.... but after i left the comment, i realised that i was logged in through another account.. my comment is in my hubby's name - Shankar :-)))

    ReplyDelete

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