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Odisha Part 10: Bhubaneshwar – the city of temples

Bhubaneshwar is often called the city of temples . It is impossible to know exactly how many temples there are, but it has been estimated that there might be over 700 temples in the city. This number, while impressive, is just a fraction of the original number, which, sometime in the 13 th century, would have been about 7000. Wikipedia has a page dedicated to the Hindu temples of Bhubaneshwar , where 93 temples are listed. All these are ancient temples, built between the 7 th and 13 th centuries CE. Bhubaneshwar was once known as Ekamra Kshetra , the sacred mango grove. We know this name from an inscription at the Ananta Vasudeva temple, which mentions the name of the place, and the main temple (that we now know as the Lingaraja temple) in the mango grove. Ananta Vasudeva Temple, with a sculpture of Trivikrama in the niche It is extremely interesting to note that the Ananta Vasudeva temple is the only temple to Lord Vishnu in this city. Varaha, Ananta Vasudeva Temple Located v...
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Collaborative Posts

My blog seems to continue on the 'silent mode' while I am busy with so many things...... On one hand, as I mentioned earlier, I have been travelling quite a lot, on the other hand, I have also been busy writing about things other than travel...... Most interestingly, for the first time, I have been part of two collaborative posts on two different sites.....



My first collaborative post on 'Naming Children' was up on the Pocket Cultures site before I left for Delhi, but I was too busy to write about it here. The post has inputs from people from 13 different countries, each with their own take on naming traditions in their own countries or families.... yours truly is just one of them, so go ahead read the post here or click on the pic below.... Meanwhile, I am now a regular contributor for Pocket Cultures, so you can read more about India and Indian Culture there too...



Now for the second.... For the first time, I am part of the Lonely Planet Blog Carnival. This is the 23rd such carnival, where Lonely Planet featured Bloggers from around the world write on a chosen topic on their own blog, and all such posts are collected and posted on the blog hosting the carnival. This time, the carnival is being hosted by Kiran Keswani, a fellow blogger from India, who writes about Indian markets on this blog, aptly titled "Indian Bazaars'. Of course, the topic this time is 'The Marketplace', and among posts about markets from all over the globe, Kiran features my blog on the Hampi Bazaar. Go ahead and take a look for a virtual tour of markets from around the world! You can read the article here or click on the pic below..


There is a lot more I need to write about, but that will have to wait till I have time to sit down and put all my thoughts down..... and since there is a lot more travel lined up ahead, plus Samhith's vacations which have started today, it looks like May will be a quiet month on the blogfront. Of course, I shall still post photos and articles about happenings as and when I can, so please do keep coming back..... and I shall be back with a bang as soon as I can!
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