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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 New Year - and new beginnings.....

A new year is here, and I am back with a new series.....Theres  a bit of history, a bit of temples, a bit of sculptures, a bit of wildlife, and of course, a lot of photographs!!!!

Yes I am back from my year end vacation !!! We had a wonderful holiday for ten whole days, starting with three days at the Jungle Lodges' Sloth Bear Resort at Hampi, where we divided our time between appreciating the beauty of nature and the creativity of artisans of a bygone era... Of course, for the spiritual part of me, there were some fascinating ancient temples too...... This was followed by a couple of days at Badami, Aihole and Pattadakal, where we found ourselves deeply interested in history, and wished we had paid more attention to it while at school! 


Meanwhile, Samhith discovered the joys of travelling in a passenger train, surprised that it turned out to be the best part of the entire train journey that took us across Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra! We brought in the new year as usual at Sri Sathya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam, where we had enough time to relax and get rejuvenated for the new year! And now it is time for me to sit down and begin to write down all I gained on this trip, but there is so much to say, that it will surely take me some time to pen my thoughts down.... Meanwhile, you can click on the collage to see my Picasa Album, or you can click on the photos  below.....There are just too many photos to post this time!!!

Hampi-Badami trip Part 1

Hampi Badami Trip Part 2


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  1. AartiJanuary 4, 2011 at 2:27 PM

    Wow,what a lovely way to ring in the new year. :-))

    ReplyDelete
  2. AartiJanuary 4, 2011 at 2:28 PM

    Anu- the picasa links dont work, rather it says there are no albums to view.... think you need to chk the privacy settings... :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anuradha ShankarJanuary 4, 2011 at 2:33 PM

    @Aarti: That was fast!! Thanks so much..... can you please check again.... I have made the albums Public now...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bindhu UnnyJanuary 4, 2011 at 6:58 PM

    Really nice! Wishing a year full of happiness and more travels. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. MridulaJanuary 4, 2011 at 7:35 PM

    Anu Samhith with the sunflower picture is worth framing! Both look radiant.

    ReplyDelete
  6. TeamgsquareJanuary 4, 2011 at 8:02 PM

    great photos ,good that you visited cave paintings near anegundi . its just awesome . There few interesting facts about those paintings.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anuradha ShankarJanuary 4, 2011 at 11:08 PM

    @Bindhu: thanks! Wish you too a wonderful, travel filled year!!!

    @Mridula: thanks so much!!! shall do that!

    @Team G Square: have u been there? written about ti???? it was just awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  8. TeamgsquareJanuary 5, 2011 at 12:19 PM

    yes have been there. I visited that place two times . there was an interesting article on this place recently in paper . I wrote but by cat didn't like it , the post got delelted before publishing .

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sankara SubramanianJanuary 6, 2011 at 2:20 PM

    Splendid Collage. Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sankara Subramanian CAugust 4, 2011 at 8:45 AM

    Splendid Collage. Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete

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