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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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Mahabaleshwar

As trips go, the unplanned ones usually turn out to be the most fun, and our trip to Mahabaleshwar was no different. Looking back, it seems unbelievable that we went at all! The visit was a short one, but we managed to pack quite a bit into the time we had, but what was really memorable was the heavy rain which dominated our stay at the hill station. I have been to Mahabaleshwar before, but never in the monsoon, and the season certainly added an extra bit of gloss to the entire trip!



The Venna Lake is the highlight of Mahabaleshwar. I remember going boating on the lake on my first visit there, and it is usually packed with tourists... so packed that the last time I was there, we had to give boating a skip since the queue seemed to be never-ending! And here is my favourite photo of this trip - the Venna Lake in the monsoon! It was amazing how the clouds and the water seemed to merge....

That was just a glimpse of our trip. Read a more detailed account on my post on the Club Mahindra Blog....

Soaking in the spirit of Mahabaleshwar
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Comments

  1. krishnaAugust 22, 2012 at 11:12 PM

    It seems that you have enjoyed a lot. I had been in Mumbai for 4 years. Many times I thought of going there, but unfortunately that never happened.
    http://from-a-girls-mind.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarAugust 23, 2012 at 4:56 PM

      Yes, we did, Krishna! you should go sometime.. but dont worry.. i visited Mahabaleshwar for the first time after living in mumbai for 25 years!! since then i have been there thrice! and there are so so many places i havent been to yet.. can u believe i have still not been to matheran?

      Delete
  2. R Niranjan DasAugust 23, 2012 at 4:40 PM

    Thats a beautiful click. Never been here.

    http://rajniranjandas.blogspot.in

    ReplyDelete
  3. PanchganiAugust 25, 2012 at 11:15 AM

    Hi,
    Anuradha Shankar, We loved the way of your writing, we would like to make you our guest blogger. contact us at www.facebook.com/ravinehotel for further details.

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarAugust 25, 2012 at 5:17 PM

      Thanks a lot, but can you please send me a mail at anushankarn(at)gmail(dot)com ?

      Delete
    2. PanchganiAugust 31, 2012 at 6:24 PM

      Ok,
      Done!!!

      Delete

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