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Odisha Part 6: The Yogini Temple of Hirapur

I fell in love with this temple the first time I set eyes on it. Back in 2017 , I had been excited to see yet another Yogini temple, when I visited Puri. The resort I was staying at (and writing for), had arranged for a car and driver to take me around. The driver was happy to take me to most of the places I wanted to go, but when it came to Hirapur, he was appalled. He knew of the temple, but had never been there. It was a tantric temple, one not visited by women, and certainly not women travelling alone. He tried to convince me not to go, but my stubbornness and persistence paid off, and he reluctantly agreed when I told him that if he didn’t take me, I would find another driver who would. All along the way, he kept going on about the sinister things that happened at the temple, the tantric rituals that were performed at night…. An Odisha brahmin who took his religious duties very seriously, to the extent of stopping the car to perform the sandhyavandam when he deemed it time, he...
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Purple Rumped Sunbird

This is one bird I see every single day, but has proved the most difficult to photograph. They are so small and flit endlessly between the flowers and leaves on the tree that I can hardly focus before they are lost. I noticed this one a couple of days back, for once sitting peacefully.... and wondered if it was the same.
Thankfully my camera was near and I managed to get a couple of shots before it flew away... Here are my only pics of the elusive Purple Rumped Sunbird...



I know the photo isn't all that great... another reminder for me to upgrade my camera soon :)

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Comments

  1. Hossain Al WasiNovember 27, 2012 at 11:34 AM

    Ma'am, your blog is awesome! I'm pretty hooked up.
    I'm from Bangladesh, and I find a lot of birds common. For some days, I've been trying to capture some local birds, but as you said, the sunbirds and the tailor-birds are so fast and restless...
    Nevertheless, I managed to capture some photos. If you want, you may use these in your blog.
    You can find the photos in my flickr photostream here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hossainalwasi/
    Thank you :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarNovember 27, 2012 at 12:16 PM

      Thank you so much, Hossain!! welcome to my blog! I just went to your flickr page, and wow! you have managed some awesome captures! keep going and all the best!

      Delete

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