Skip to main content

Featured Post

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 ...
1 comment

Juhu Beach, Mumbai

The last time I went to Juhu beach must have been about 25 years back.... when I was in school. In fact, this happens to be the first beach I visited when I came to Bombay..... There are, however, few memories I have, about the place, which is why I headed out there in the hot sun, when I had a few hours free during the BlogCamp. Here are a few images from the trip......







Samhith has yet to visit a beach in Bombay.... its high time I take him......
Labels:

Comments

  1. AartiFebruary 25, 2010 at 1:54 PM

    Nice shots... seen the beach everytime i pass by, but never stopped to enjoy it... :)

    next time i wanna!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. chitraFebruary 25, 2010 at 3:08 PM

    I have visited this beach during one my visits to Mumbai. Nice pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  3. MridulaFebruary 25, 2010 at 3:22 PM

    Both the Pigeon shots look nice.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anuradha ShankarFebruary 25, 2010 at 8:30 PM

    @Aaarti: Neither did I, for so many years....and the same thing happens when i am in chennai... pass by marina so many times, but its been ages since i stopped by.....now i really have to, at least for samhith!

    @Chitra: thanks....its a regular one on the tourist circuit... one of the most popular.. thanks to which it was also the dirtiest..now thanks to local groups, they have somehow managed to clean it up!

    @Mridula: thanks.. there were so many of them! it was impossible to shoot the beach without them, so i shot them instead!

    ReplyDelete
  5. IndraniFebruary 26, 2010 at 11:17 AM

    Nice pictures Anu.

    ReplyDelete
  6. RajeshFebruary 26, 2010 at 7:54 PM

    Beautiful shots. I have never seen it so less crowded.

    ReplyDelete
  7. subu.psFebruary 27, 2010 at 3:04 AM

    The beach seems to be very neat. Looks like it was a sunny day

    ReplyDelete
  8. indicaspeciesMarch 2, 2010 at 4:13 AM

    You live in Mumbai and going to the beach after so long? You must make trips more often. Beaches have such a calming effect on me. Anu, my best wishes for a happy Holi.

    ReplyDelete
  9. UshaMarch 3, 2010 at 7:03 PM

    What! Samhith has never been to a beach in Bombay! Wow! This boy has been to hundreds of places on the ECR and the West Coast and has never gone to Juhu Beach! You should take him there very soon!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please leave a comment for me so that I will know you have been here....

Popular posts from this blog

Gokarna Part II – The Five Lingams

We continued our Gokarna trip by visiting four other Shiva temples in the vicinity, all connected to the same story of Gokarna. The story of Gokarna mentions the Mahabaleshwara Lingam as the one brought from Kailas by Ravana, and kept at this place on the ground by Ganesha. (See my earlier post- Gokarna – Pilgrimage and Pleasure). However, the story does not end here. It is believed that, in his anger, Ravana flung aside the materials which covered the lingam- the casket, its lid, the string around the lingam, and the cloth covering it. All these items became lingams as soon as they touched the ground. These four lingams, along with the main Mahabaleshwara lingam are collectively called the ‘ Panchalingams’ . These are: Mahabaleshwara – the main lingam Sajjeshwar – the casket carrying the lingam. This temple is about 35 Kms from Karwar, and is a 2 hour drive from Gokarna. Dhareshwar – the string covering the lingam. This temple is on NH17, about 45 Kms south of Gokarna. Gunavanteshw...
10 comments
Read more

Newasa - Encountering an unique form of Vishnu, and Sant Jnaneshwar

The year was 1290 . A crowd had gathered around a clearing, where broken down pillars marked the presence of an ancient temple, now long gone. A young boy, just 14 years old, leaned against one of those pillars, deep in thought. Then, he began speaking, and the crowd fell silent, listening to his every word. He spoke without any notes, translating the Bhagavat Gita, from Sanskrit, which only the pundits knew, to the language everyone in the village knew and spoke – a variety of Prakrit which developed into the Marathi language. Even as he spoke, one of the men in the audience realized how momentous this event was, and how important this composition would be. He began writing down the words the young boy spoke, and this composition was named by its author and composer, the Bhavartha Deepika – the enlightening meaning (of the Bhagavat Gita). Now, the ancient, holy text, was no longer restricted to the pundits, but accessible to all, understood easily by them, composed as it was, in their...
9 comments
Read more

Review of Executive Lounges at New Delhi Railway Station (NDLS)

During my recent trip to Uttarakhand , I was faced with a problem I had never encountered before. We were passing through Delhi, but we had hardly any time in the city. On earlier visits when I have had to change trains/flights at Delhi, I have always arrived in the morning and left again at night, visiting relatives in between. This time, I was arriving in the city at night, and leaving again early in the morning. There was hardly any time to visit people. I would only have a couple of hours with them before I’d have to leave again. For the first time, we considered booking a hotel, but there again, we were hesitant about the actual hotels, the costs involved, and the logistics of getting from the airport to the railway station and then back again from the station to the airport.  That’s when we remembered reading something about a corporate-managed lounge at Delhi station. We soon figured out that we could book online and pay by the hour. Besides, we also learnt that there wasn’...
2 comments
Read more