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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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Birds at the Rail Museum

My cousins have never traveled much with me, and certainly never since I started writing. Though they do read my blog, they aren't really used to seeing me looking for material to write about. When I visited the Rail Museum in Delhi along with a couple of them, they were really amused to see me ignore the trains when I saw a flock of birds on the lawn.
They looked like mynas, which we see all over the place, and had a good time ribbing me about being more interested in birds than anything else. But with so many of my blog friends turning into birding enthusiasts that it was plain to even my untrained eye that these weren't the mynas I see usually. Returning home, and consulting with my bird book and with a bit of help from the net, I realized that the birds I had noticed were Rosy Starlings - the first time I had seen these birds! Here are a couple of pics....




There were, of course, many more birds there, probably because there weren't many people around! Here are a couple more pics.....

A dove wandered about happily....


and a rose ringed parakeet obliged me with a pose....


The Rail Museum used to be a favourite place to visit when I was a kid, and all I remembered from the time were the trains..... Never did I think that I would visit the Rail Museum with my son and end up photographing birds!!
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