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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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A Collaborative Post on Ganesh Chaturthi

A festival is all about getting together, and what symbolizes it more than the Ganesh Chaturthi which brings together the most disparate of Indians? On the 9th day of the festival, as the Lord readies to go back to his abode, Arti from My Yatra Diary has managed to get together 4 of us bloggers to write our own versions of the way we celebrate the festival. 

My contribution is about the Ganeshas we made at home....

and Santosh from Bangalore, who writes on Huchchara Santhe writes about the Gauri and Ganesh Puja celebrated all over Karnataka.

Abhi from Be the Geek, like Samhith, seems to love the Prasad at the various Ganpati Pandals all over Mumbai..

and Mercury from FZed Chronicles talks about the celebrations in Goa.

Its a beautifully put together post, so please do go over and read it!

Ganesh Chaturthi Celebrations - Transcending Virtual Boundaries, Bringing Bloggers Together


Last but not the least, Thanks Arti for this wonderful opportunity! It was a tremendous effort, coordinating with all of us and getting the post up, and the result is fantastic!

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  1. teamgsquareSeptember 9, 2011 at 7:43 PM

    Wonderful work ...

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  2. Anu ShankarSeptember 9, 2011 at 9:15 PM

    Thanks a lot!

    ReplyDelete
  3. ArtiSeptember 10, 2011 at 7:48 PM

    Thank you so much for the appreciaiton Anu! It was a wonderful team effort, and I have no words to thank all you wonderful people for all the support given. You know the day I mailed you, I was almost sure the post wasnt going through! If you would have turned away that day, this post would never have seen the light of the day... The past couple of days made me realize just how beautiful this blogging world is. Everyone gave me their posts within a very short span of time just like you, it was really a very supportive gesture from all.. This post will always remain a very special one for me :-)

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  4. Anu ShankarSeptember 10, 2011 at 7:53 PM

    It is we who must thank you, Arti, because we realise it isnt so easy to get 4 people together to post within a time frame, and that too during a festival! i loved reading it and thanks to you learnt about a couple of new bloggers too! thanks so much!

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