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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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Asian Koel

The call of the cuckoo or koel is one of the nicest to hear. The bird itself is not so nice. For one, it is a lazy bird, laying its eggs in another's nest, leaving the other one to care for it unknowingly. Also, the male looks just like a crow, which does nothing to improve its looks! The female looks more beautiful, a combination of brown and white which helps in camouflage. However, this also makes it harder to spot. I have seen koels in our colony, but never close, and certainly not close enough to get a decent photograph. 



The Nehru Park on Fateh Sagar Lake at Udaipur was a bird haven, even in the sweltering summer heat. Apart from the lapwings, which I have written about earlier, we also saw many other birds.... Among these were a pair of Asian Koels....

The female was the easiest to photograph, as she stayed in one place....









while the male foraged among the other trees, coming back every now and then...


While the rains had yet to set in, it looked like it was time for mating already, for this was not the only pair of birds we saw, busily engaged in courtship. There were more, so keep coming back!!
Other Bird Posts....
Other Posts about Asian Koels on my blog....

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