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Odisha Part 2 - Puri: The Experience of Jagannath

The temple of Jagannath at Puri is one of the four most important temples across India. Sometimes called the Char Dham – Badrinath in the north, Rameswaram in the South, Dwarka in the west, and Puri in the east – these temples mark four corners of our country, and each of these temples has a connection to Adi Shankara. He is said to have travelled to each of them, thus marking a sacred geography of India, long before the country actually existed. Among these 4 temples, 3 are dedicated to Lord Vishnu, while only Rameswaram is dedicated to Lord Shiva, though the lingam there is said to have been installed by Rama. Further, Shankara set up Mutts at 3 of these sites (or very close to these sites, like at Badrinath, where the mutt is at Joshimutt), while the mutt in the south is at Sringeri in Karnataka, quite a distance away from Rameswaram. Coming back to the topic, I have visited Rameswaram most often, Badrinath during my childhood, and Dwaraka a few times, but Puri had stayed out of re...
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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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