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Odisha Part 2 - Puri: The Experience of Jagannath

The temple of Jagannath at Puri is one of the four most important temples across India. Sometimes called the Char Dham – Badrinath in the north, Rameswaram in the South, Dwarka in the west, and Puri in the east – these temples mark four corners of our country, and each of these temples has a connection to Adi Shankara. He is said to have travelled to each of them, thus marking a sacred geography of India, long before the country actually existed. Among these 4 temples, 3 are dedicated to Lord Vishnu, while only Rameswaram is dedicated to Lord Shiva, though the lingam there is said to have been installed by Rama. Further, Shankara set up Mutts at 3 of these sites (or very close to these sites, like at Badrinath, where the mutt is at Joshimutt), while the mutt in the south is at Sringeri in Karnataka, quite a distance away from Rameswaram. Coming back to the topic, I have visited Rameswaram most often, Badrinath during my childhood, and Dwaraka a few times, but Puri had stayed out of re...
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More than just Coochie Coo!

It was hardly meant to be a birdwatching trip, but we saw more birds than expected. Yes, many of them were common ones, but we saw them in uncommon positions, many of them either courting, or mating! These Eurasian Collared Doves at the Nehru Park on the Fateh Sagar Lake were oblivious to the tourists as they went about their business during their breeding season. 





As I clicked these snaps, for a minute, I actually hesitated, extremely conscious of the fact that I was the intruder here!








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  1. Bhavesh ChhatbarAugust 5, 2011 at 5:53 PM

    I must say that you are not only lucky but you have a great photographer inside you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anu ShankarAugust 5, 2011 at 7:27 PM

    Thanks so much, Bhavesh!

    ReplyDelete

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