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 ...
You read about my Diwali celebrations in my last post, now you can read about the other Diwali celebrations I was part of…. Wherever we went this last week, all we saw were people celebrating Diwali in their own way – there was so much I wanted to photograph, but a hectic tour programme did not give me time to stop at all the places I wanted to, so here are just a few glimpses….. Many of you have appreciated my rangolis ..... thank you all so much, but here are some more, which are far better, especially since they have been made with far more ease and perfection than mine can ever hope to attain…. Many of these were seen at Omkareshwar and some at Indore….. we saw many more at Shirdi, but unfortunately did not have my camera to capture them…. And finally, here is the best one (in my opinion)… this girl was hard at work and did not even realize that we had stopped to see her… she had already made a clay castle or fort, and was in the process of adding the finishing to...