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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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Something new for a change......



There are days when I just can't write, and this turned out to be one of them. I caught up on my reading, and whiled away my time in front of the screen, and then I saw this post by Aarti. I knew she had been trying out Origami, but this rose was simply too stunning!  I immediately looked for instructions, and found them too, but decided that it was just too difficult to begin with! There were lots of pics though, and I tried out a couple..... and you can see the result above!

All Origami instruction sheets advise using Origami paper for best results, but I had none, and didnt have the patience to wait till I went to the market and got some. I debated using some good paper I had, and then remembered shouting at Samhith for wasting paper, making aeroplanes with new paper. Trying to practice what I preached, I decided to use the pamphlets which come unbidden with our newspaper everyday...... The results dont look too bad, do they? 

For those who are interested, here are links to the sites which helped me out.....

http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-daisy.html

http://www.origami-fun.com/origami-lily.html

http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-kusudama-flower.html

These are really easy to make...try them out! And, Thanks Aarti for the inspiration!
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