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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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Shirdi Temple Update - Speedy Darshan

I have been fortunate to have been able to visit Shirdi plenty of times. You can read about my experiences at

http://anushankarn.blogspot.com/2008/09/quick-trip-to-shirdi-and-shani.html

http://anushankarn.blogspot.com/2008/03/quick-trip-to-shirdi-and-shani.html

http://anushankarn.blogspot.com/2007/12/trip-on-diwali-from-shirdi-to-bordi.html

I will therefore not waste more words talking about the temple and my experiences.

This post is meant to be an update on the speedy darshan facility recently started at Shirdi during crowded weekends.

The temple authorities have opened a paid darshan facility during the weekends, to cope with the huge crowds at that time. To avail of these passes, one has to approach the guards at Gate No.1. They will direct you to the person issuing the passes. a limited number of passes are available each day, starting at 7AM, and the rates are as follows:


Only darshan : Rs. 100 per person
All aartis except kakad aarti: Rs. 200 per person
Kakad Aarti: Rs. 300 per person.
The passes for the Kakad aarti have to be collected the previous night.


Passes are issued only in person, and can not be collected for others. Some proof of ID is required, such as PAN card, Election ID, Driving license, etc. 

Ours was, as usual, a hurried trip, and we attended the Kakad aarti standing in the queue, since we had no time to enquire about these passes. However, I was able to find out the required information for my father-in-law, who was able to buy a pass and had darshan in just a few minutes! So, please do use this information and have a wonderful darshan at Shirdi!

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Comments

  1. பிரகாசம்June 23, 2010 at 11:20 AM

    Thanks for the kind information. It will be very useful to pilgrims who visit the holy place for the first time

    ReplyDelete
  2. jayasreeJune 23, 2010 at 12:45 PM

    Thanks for sharing the info Anu. I will pass it on to my relatives who visit there and will be useful for me too

    ReplyDelete
  3. chitraJune 24, 2010 at 9:55 PM

    Thanks for the info.this is one temple i would like to visit.

    ReplyDelete
  4. chitraJune 24, 2010 at 9:55 PM

    Thanks for the info.this is one temple i would like to visit.

    ReplyDelete
  5. trimbakeshwarJuly 2, 2010 at 5:15 PM

    hi,this is ajay,

    i read your blog and i like it very much..
    thanks for posrting such a wonderful aarati...

    ReplyDelete
  6. JhonSeptember 7, 2010 at 12:00 PM

    I am planning to visit shirdi temple for darshan of shree sai baba. For this I have booked shirdi tour package. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  7. Prasad (à°ª్à°°à°¸ాà°¦్ à°­à°³్ళమూà°¡ి)January 8, 2014 at 4:49 PM

    You can book Room, Darshan, Aarathi via internet. This can be done even two days before. I had done recently. Dec 13. You have to registere your self with them

    ReplyDelete

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