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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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Beginning of new lives.....

We visited the Maharashtra Nature Park after more than a month last Sunday, and the changes were startling, Where it was always green before, the monsoon had brought in an added brightness, and even Samhith noticed the wonderful smell of wet earth mingling with the fragrance of different flowers and herbs.
New life was sprouting everywhere - the seeds and saplings planted on the Urban Leaves terrace farm were flourishing, and along with them were butterflies and insects - mating and beginning new lives...... there were butterflies all over, but more about them later..... As of now, here are a bunch of newly hatched bugs or beetles.. They looked at first like ladybirds, but now I am not so sure. Any idea about what these are?



To read more about our Urban Leaves Sunday visit to MNP, click here or on the link below....
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