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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...
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Crocodile at Mysore Zoo

Remembering our trip to Mysore in May, and trying to catch up with writing about it, I came across this photo I had clicked of one of the crocodiles. Both, Samhith and I agreed that this shouldn't have to go with the many, many photos in the zoo post coming up, but deserves a post to itself. Do you agree?



The eye does look suitably intimidating, doesn't it? Especially with all those teeth!
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Location: Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, Indiranagar, Mysore, KA 570010, India

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