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Odisha Part 6: The Yogini Temple of Hirapur

I fell in love with this temple the first time I set eyes on it. Back in 2017 , I had been excited to see yet another Yogini temple, when I visited Puri. The resort I was staying at (and writing for), had arranged for a car and driver to take me around. The driver was happy to take me to most of the places I wanted to go, but when it came to Hirapur, he was appalled. He knew of the temple, but had never been there. It was a tantric temple, one not visited by women, and certainly not women travelling alone. He tried to convince me not to go, but my stubbornness and persistence paid off, and he reluctantly agreed when I told him that if he didn’t take me, I would find another driver who would. All along the way, he kept going on about the sinister things that happened at the temple, the tantric rituals that were performed at night…. An Odisha brahmin who took his religious duties very seriously, to the extent of stopping the car to perform the sandhyavandam when he deemed it time, he...
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Feathered Friends

There is one tree in our colony which is the meeting point of the birds. It stands on the edge of our common ground, giving a view of the temple, and a whole square filled with buildings. I have often wondered what it is that draws birds to this tree.... but recently, my thoughts have taken a different direction. I often see groups of birds perched on a particular branch of this tree.....

A couple of weeks back, there were these three Coppersmith barbets....





and then these Red Vented Bulbuls....



Then there were these bulbuls cosying up to each other (this was during the cold wave recently)...



and then a couple of days back, a Coppersmith and a Bulbul, which sat there for almost an hour!



So now I am wondering.... are these bulbuls and coppersmiths becoming friends, hanging out as they are, on the same branch?

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Comments

  1. UnknownJanuary 29, 2013 at 6:30 PM

    Its beautiful Anuradha...Great concept & ofcourse lovely clicks...

    http://journeyintrance.blogspot.in/

    ReplyDelete
  2. R Niranjan DasJanuary 29, 2013 at 11:28 PM

    Nice clicks!

    www.rajniranjandas.blogspot.in

    ReplyDelete
  3. MridulaJanuary 30, 2013 at 10:07 AM

    Anu what beautiful captures. I have now seen a few barbets in the tree in front of my home but no clicks as of now!

    ReplyDelete

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