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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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Red Flowers

Looking back, collating the images from my summer trip, I realized that we had seen many flowers, and most of them were red!! Here, take a look -

Red Passion Flower - can you see a bee buzzing in there?




Red Ginger
I saw these two flowers in the resort in Bangalore where I attended a wedding. Is it any surprise that I clicked them instead of paying attention to the ceremonies?

Lobster Claw or Hanging Heliconia

Flamingo Flower
These two were abundant in the compound of our hotel at Wayanad. It was impossible, not to click them!

Blood Lily
As to this one, it stood out proudly, the only splash of colour, in an otherwise green landscape, at the Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary Visitors Enclosure!

Beautiful, aren't they? And with such interesting names too!!!

P.S. Many thanks to Flowers of India for helping me identify them!

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Comments

  1. MridulaSeptember 24, 2013 at 4:41 PM

    Beautiful collection.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bindhu UnnySeptember 24, 2013 at 6:16 PM

    Nice clicks, Anu. Never seen a red passion flower and red ginger flower.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarSeptember 25, 2013 at 4:35 PM

      Thanks Bindhu! I hadnt seen these either! had to search to get the names too :D

      Delete
  3. SujitSeptember 25, 2013 at 2:15 PM

    Awesome...
    Really nice collection,

    ReplyDelete
  4. IndraniSeptember 26, 2013 at 1:57 PM

    These are lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousSeptember 26, 2013 at 3:53 PM

    I like your post and everything you share with us is current and very informative,you have done a fantastic job
    Car Hire Punei

    ReplyDelete

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