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Odisha Part 10: Bhubaneshwar – the city of temples

Bhubaneshwar is often called the city of temples . It is impossible to know exactly how many temples there are, but it has been estimated that there might be over 700 temples in the city. This number, while impressive, is just a fraction of the original number, which, sometime in the 13 th century, would have been about 7000. Wikipedia has a page dedicated to the Hindu temples of Bhubaneshwar , where 93 temples are listed. All these are ancient temples, built between the 7 th and 13 th centuries CE. Bhubaneshwar was once known as Ekamra Kshetra , the sacred mango grove. We know this name from an inscription at the Ananta Vasudeva temple, which mentions the name of the place, and the main temple (that we now know as the Lingaraja temple) in the mango grove. Ananta Vasudeva Temple, with a sculpture of Trivikrama in the niche It is extremely interesting to note that the Ananta Vasudeva temple is the only temple to Lord Vishnu in this city. Varaha, Ananta Vasudeva Temple Located v...
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Asian Open Bill or Asian Open Billed Stork

We first saw these birds at the Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary, but on my recent trip to Tamilnadu, we saw this one in a rice field, somewhere between Mayiladudurai (Mayavaram) and Tarangambadi (Tranquebar)....



Would I be right in thinking that its the Cauvery which draws them? What do you think?

P.S. Posts on the blog will be erratic for a while because of some major renovation work in our house which has restricted my access to the computer. I will, however, be posting regular updates as well as photographs on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Please follow me there to see what I am up to. Besides, I am off on another trip soon, so stay tuned for a lot more photos!!! 
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  1. HaddockNovember 3, 2014 at 11:55 PM

    The beak is quite thick, compared to the regular stork.

    ReplyDelete

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