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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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Spotted Munias

We spotted these Spotted Munias, also called Scaly-breasted Munias, at the Mysore Palace.



We were wandering around the gardens, reveling in the peace there, away from the crowd which seemed to have taken over the museum, when we saw a Grey Hornbill fly past. We went off in search of the bird, which proved too elusive for us. Instead, as we gave up our search and relaxed once more, we spotted these birds perched on a fence. The fence was covered with them, and even as I clicked, many flew off, leaving just these for me to capture. 

It was small things like these that made our Mysore trip memorable.

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  1. DietmutSeptember 11, 2013 at 12:26 AM

    amazing spot, really beautiful birds. Greetings from Holland, Dietmut

    ReplyDelete
  2. AmritaSeptember 12, 2013 at 5:06 PM

    What beautiful birds ! And a lovely capture as well

    ReplyDelete

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