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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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Bay Backed Shrike

I have seen this bird before, but had never been able to capture it on camera. On my recent visit to Nanded and around, we saw these birds in plenty. However, it was only when we were in an auto, visiting the temples around Shegaon, that I could stop and photograph it.





The Rufous Bay Backed Shrike is quite a common bird in India. Our auto driver was surprised that I was stopping to photograph it, but he seemed to be used to people with cameras who stopped every now and then to click something, and he happily indulged me!


Thanks so much, to Karthik for pointing out that this is a Bay Backed Shrike.. 
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Comments

  1. magiceyeDecember 1, 2012 at 11:06 AM

    Lovely captures!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. MridulaDecember 1, 2012 at 11:07 AM

    Lovely clicks Anu.

    ReplyDelete
  3. R Niranjan DasDecember 1, 2012 at 12:51 PM

    Nice clicks.

    www.rajniranjandas.blogspot.in

    ReplyDelete
  4. ArtiDecember 1, 2012 at 7:29 PM

    Nicely shot! Thanks for sharing :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. TeamgsquareDecember 3, 2012 at 8:34 AM

    Wonderful capture of this beautiful bird .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarDecember 6, 2012 at 2:09 PM

      Thanks Team GSquare. nice to see u here after such a long time!

      Delete
  6. UnknownDecember 3, 2012 at 1:30 PM

    Anu,

    This was lovely. Truly a great pic. I know what a challenge it is to shoot birds! Awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Bindhu UnnyDecember 4, 2012 at 11:14 AM

    Nice one, Anu. Many times we spot birds but getting a nice photo is difficult. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarDecember 6, 2012 at 2:12 PM

      THanks Bindhu!!! and so nice to see u here after so long!

      Delete
  8. AnonymousDecember 14, 2012 at 5:47 PM

    Wow!! fantastic Photography and Description.

    ReplyDelete

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