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 ...
Samhith says he is not afraid of anything...... Anything, except cats and dogs, especially when they enter our building, taking advantage of the grilled door carelessly left open. The frequency of such uninvited visits recently increased, to the extent that a cat tried to gain entry inside one of the houses, leading to a lot of amusement (and of course a lot of shouting and shooing and all kinds of activities). Finally, each visitor to our building was sternly told to make sure that they closed the door and didn't allow the cat to enter. The cat however, was one resourceful female (like all females!) and she gained entry somehow into one of the unoccupied houses on the ground floor, and hid in the cupboard to bring forth a litter of kittens. Now, Samhith is certainly not scared of them. On the contrary, he wants to pay them a visit everyday! I had my camera with me (incidentally, to take pics of our Ganesha leaving) and he insisted that I take pics of the new family.... So, here they are... the resourceful mom and her kittens.....
Anu I am not sure if my first comment went through. But the cat family makes a pretty picture.
ReplyDeletethe kittens are so kitty :)
ReplyDeleteVery cute indeed!
ReplyDeleteThat lake is in a Ganesh temple in Borivli.
@Mridula: thanks...
ReplyDelete@Aarti: nice description :)
@Arti: thanks.. the immersion was really well organised there....
Nice Blog! Well most of your content and image is original and informative. /many thanks for sharing this, cheers.
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