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Odisha Part 10: Bhubaneshwar – the city of temples

Bhubaneshwar is often called the city of temples . It is impossible to know exactly how many temples there are, but it has been estimated that there might be over 700 temples in the city. This number, while impressive, is just a fraction of the original number, which, sometime in the 13 th century, would have been about 7000. Wikipedia has a page dedicated to the Hindu temples of Bhubaneshwar , where 93 temples are listed. All these are ancient temples, built between the 7 th and 13 th centuries CE. Bhubaneshwar was once known as Ekamra Kshetra , the sacred mango grove. We know this name from an inscription at the Ananta Vasudeva temple, which mentions the name of the place, and the main temple (that we now know as the Lingaraja temple) in the mango grove. Ananta Vasudeva Temple, with a sculpture of Trivikrama in the niche It is extremely interesting to note that the Ananta Vasudeva temple is the only temple to Lord Vishnu in this city. Varaha, Ananta Vasudeva Temple Located v...
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Faces in the Crowd - Temple vendor at Nashik

One of my resolutions this year is to post as often as I can. And to make it a bit easier for myself, I have decided to use some of the photos I have clicked, but never used. And some of these photos are of complete strangers - people I saw and clicked on my travels, but people I know little about. Hence the title, Faces in the Crowd.... And here is the first one.....





We saw her outside the Kala Ram Temple at Nashik, selling offerings for the deity. There was a time when I used to love the sugar offerings she sells - we used to call them 'batasha', but try as I might, I was unable to find the English word for them.  Anyway, I clicked a quick photo of her wares, and she called out to me "Mazha photu nahi kaadnar kaa? " (Won't you click my photograph too?) and so I did... and she posed too, pursing up her lips in a smile which grew much wider when I showed her the photo on the camera screen. 
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  1. chitraJanuary 6, 2013 at 6:03 PM

    Happy New Year!!. I also wish to post as often as possible I am not sure so didn't make any resolution

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    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarJanuary 7, 2013 at 8:30 AM

      Thanks Chitra. wish you too a wonderful year ahead! I dont usually make resolutions either, but I lagged behind so much on posting in 2012 that I felt drastic steps were needed to bring myself up to scratch!!! now lets see how long I manage to keep this up!

      Delete
  2. Vishal RathodJanuary 7, 2013 at 7:07 PM

    Great Resolution , nice start , click click click ....

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