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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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Handmade Ganeshas - My first entry for Artsy-Craftsy September 2010



I have been following Shruti's Mindful Meanderings for a while now, and enjoyed the wonderful craft works posted by her, as well as the monthly contest and their entries. I have, however, never been able to participate, for various reasons. This time, as it happens, I actually have something to contribute, so here is mine...

These are the Ganeshas we made from clay for our Ganpati Celebration this year... the bigger one made by me and the smaller by Samhith.


Most of you would have already seen this, since I posted the pics earlier, as part of my Ganpati celebrations post. I am posting this again for two reasons - I wanted to add the link to the Mindful Meanderings blog for one, and secondly, I have recieved a lot of emails asking about how I made it...

The answer is that it was actually quite easy, thanks to the net (you arent surprised, are you???) I found the clay when I was searching for something for Samhith to do. Its available at most craft stores.  As to actually making the ganesha, here is what helped me out....


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Comments

  1. IndraniSeptember 19, 2010 at 2:42 PM

    Great entry Anu.
    The video captured well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anuradha ShankarSeptember 19, 2010 at 2:57 PM

    thanks Indrani. Finding that video went a long way in making the idol!

    ReplyDelete
  3. P.N. SubramanianSeptember 19, 2010 at 10:41 PM

    Very well explained. I remember, in my childhood, we used to go to the potter for two three buckets of clay and used to prepare the Ganeshas along with friends.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousSeptember 19, 2010 at 10:41 PM

    oh Anu!! lovely videa.. and you've done a fab job!! also... Shruti's blog is awesome!! loads of artsy stuff on there!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. AswathiBabuSeptember 20, 2010 at 10:02 AM

    Anu
    Great work and congrats to yr dedication. I will surely try this wishing you a very nice day

    ReplyDelete
  6. UshaSeptember 20, 2010 at 9:38 PM

    Thanks again, Anu! I will try this out!

    ReplyDelete
  7. subu.psSeptember 20, 2010 at 11:10 PM

    hey Anu nice work and thanks for sharing the video. I have been away from the blog world for some time.. Lots to catch up in your blog..seems like u have many posts on ganesha.

    ReplyDelete
  8. callezeeSeptember 21, 2010 at 6:50 PM

    It is made in clay,we can also do it in candle,but the pink ganesha is chubby looks great..

    ReplyDelete

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