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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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A Little Land

As a single child, and the only grandson in both my and Shankar's side of the family, Samhith gets all sorts of toys to play with. Being the finicky kind of mom I am, I keep searching for 'something different'. The only toys both Samhith and I have agreed to like are his Thomas the Tank Engine train track sets and all the building blocks we have collected over the years... Of course, for Samhith, his favourites remain the 200 odd plastic animals we have been accumulating since he was born!

My search for toys has, however, not stopped yet, and I was thrilled to see this interesting set developed by a budding toy designer, Nalisha. She is a Visual Communication student and is part of an interactive toy design Lab at Srishti school of design, Bangalore. She writes a blog named 'Little Land' at http://averylittleland.blogspot.com/

Her blog is named after the set of toys designed by her - 'Little Land', and it offers ample scope for kids to showcase their creativity....

Here is what the toy looks like....

This is the base....


and here are the pieces which fit on it.... There are all sorts of shapes based on the set...


These pieces themselves offer a lot of scope for play... you can dress them up like this....


you can choose a set like this.....


or like this....



Here is the base in the form of a box... which you can use to store the pieces...


And here is the creator with the set as part of an exhibition....


Interesting, wouldn't you say? Now, I wish this set would come in the market soon, so that I could get hold of one for Samhith!

Comments

  1. LakshmiAugust 25, 2010 at 9:08 AM

    interesting..as a kid and even now, my favourite toys are the little rubber and plastic animals we used to get with binaca..what great branding it used to be..shd do a post on it sometimes

    ReplyDelete
  2. MridulaAugust 25, 2010 at 11:15 AM

    If I gave this to Chhavi she will promptly start chewing at the pieces.

    ReplyDelete
  3. MridulaAugust 25, 2010 at 11:17 AM

    If I gave this to Chhavi she will promptly start chewing at the pieces.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Aarti BadamikarAugust 25, 2010 at 3:43 PM

    nice nice :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anuradha ShankarAugust 25, 2010 at 4:14 PM

    @Lakshmi: there's nothing to compare with those small things we get free... and the fun is in not knowing what exactly we will get!

    @Mridula: i guess she will, but just for a while.... once she gets over it, I am sure she will come up with interesting things... Samhith did the same...

    @Aarti: i thought u would like it, being a designer yourself!

    ReplyDelete
  6. chitraAugust 25, 2010 at 6:51 PM

    Good creativity!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. jayasreeAugust 26, 2010 at 10:41 AM

    The set looks interesting..Liked the box underneath to store them too. Very neat idea.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anuradha ShankarAugust 26, 2010 at 3:13 PM

    @Chitra: yes, it is... which is why i decided to post this...

    @Jayasree: absolutely!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. IndraniAugust 26, 2010 at 4:46 PM

    My children have outgrown these, but never the less a great posy and a great link given. Love the shots.

    ReplyDelete
  10. DonatellaAugust 26, 2010 at 5:39 PM

    Very creative, I can see lots of European kids playing with little land too! Many thanks for posting. All the Best from Rome, Italy.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Louis Shane9December 27, 2011 at 1:11 PM

    Wow that was a very interesting toy, You are so creative. 


    ---------------------------
    Lets Enjoy Philippines | Enjoy Philippines

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anu ShankarJanuary 8, 2012 at 12:16 PM

    Thanks! Hope the creator reads this too!

    ReplyDelete

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