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Odisha Part 6: The Yogini Temple of Hirapur

I fell in love with this temple the first time I set eyes on it. Back in 2017 , I had been excited to see yet another Yogini temple, when I visited Puri. The resort I was staying at (and writing for), had arranged for a car and driver to take me around. The driver was happy to take me to most of the places I wanted to go, but when it came to Hirapur, he was appalled. He knew of the temple, but had never been there. It was a tantric temple, one not visited by women, and certainly not women travelling alone. He tried to convince me not to go, but my stubbornness and persistence paid off, and he reluctantly agreed when I told him that if he didn’t take me, I would find another driver who would. All along the way, he kept going on about the sinister things that happened at the temple, the tantric rituals that were performed at night…. An Odisha brahmin who took his religious duties very seriously, to the extent of stopping the car to perform the sandhyavandam when he deemed it time, he...
2 comments

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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