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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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Water Birds at Gokarna

Driving through Gokarna in the monsoon, the last thing we expected to see were birds. Therefore, when, in the middle of nowhere, when Samhith excitedly shouted,  "Amma!! Flamingo!!" I didnt really believe him. I didn't believe my eyes either, when, a little way off, there was indeed a bird, which, from a distance, did look like a flamingo. We requested our auto driver to take us closer, without disturbing the birds, which, to our relief. he did, with a smile, here is what we saw....



Yes, it was indeed a flamingo!



And it wasnt alone. These ducks gave it company...


These are Lesser Whistling Ducks or Lesser Whistling Teals, which seem to be quite common birds, but nice to see nevertheless! Thanks Karthik for help with the identification. 


This little cormorant was busy drying itself.....



And a little farther, was this Lapwing...



Common birds they might be, but seeing them so unexpectedly, certainly perked us up!

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Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 5, 2013 at 9:21 AM

    Chancelesss!!!! superb Click YAr!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. vaidehiNovember 5, 2013 at 8:48 PM

    Superb images !!!
    www.vaidehivaidehi.blogspot.com.au

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sankara Subramanian CNovember 6, 2013 at 4:11 AM

    WOW! Flamingos in and around Gokarna is so rare. Either you were extremely lucky or bird migration patterns have started to change. Either ways, it was good you could see these birds. I am going to give it a try too and see what comes my way :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarNovember 6, 2013 at 2:32 PM

      Thanks Sankara! we were indeed lucky, but am not really sure if it is a change in the migration pattern. there was just this one flamingo around, so it was probably lost or made the place its permanent home :D but it was nice to see it nevertheless. but do go and see if it is still there!

      Delete
  4. Paresh KaleNovember 6, 2013 at 7:14 PM

    First time seeing flamingos see around Gokarna, never knew ! TFS

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownNovember 7, 2013 at 10:09 AM

    the pictures are really great...
    the cormorant, is the best one, the moment captured is awesome...

    pulkit

    ReplyDelete
  6. MridulaNovember 9, 2013 at 5:16 PM

    The lapwing reflection looks so good!

    ReplyDelete
  7. kritikaJanuary 12, 2017 at 8:02 PM

    Hi, loved the photographs, would love read about kaikondranahalli lake birds.

    ReplyDelete

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