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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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Memories of 2012 - Kelwe Beach

September brought with it, festivals. But we couldn't celebrate them due to a death in the extended family. Meanwhile, my in-laws were at Palghar for a while, and we decided to make use of our holidays and visit them.



Near Palghar is the Kelwe Beach, which draws crowds of tourists from Mumbai. However, with the  Ganpati festival in full swing, we had the beach to ourselves! As you can see, the beach was a treasure trove of shells and we had a wonderful time picking them! 

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  1. RahulDecember 29, 2012 at 4:08 PM

    Nice photos admin ;
    We also planning to go on Kelwa beach

    ReplyDelete

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