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Odisha Part 9 : The Vaital Temple, Bhubaneshwar

The Vaital temple is of the many intriguing temples in Bhubaneshwar. To begin with, the structure itself resembles a South-Indian temple more than the typical Kalingan style that we see everywhere else in Odisha. The temple has been dated to the last quarter of the 8 th century CE. Further , unlike most of the temples in Bhubaneshwar, this temple is not dedicated to Lord Shiva. Inside the sanctum is one of the deities who is very rarely seen in a sanctum – Chamunda, along with the Saptamatrikas. This is evidently a Shakta shrine. However, the presence of Lakulisha on the vimana indicates the connection with the Pasupata sect, which is most prevalent in this region during this time period. Further, the name of the temple – ‘Vaital’, comes from the word ‘ vetala’ , referring to spirits, which were invoked by tantrics to attain siddhis. Thus, this temple is an amalgamation of Pasupata and Shakta philosophy, with a strong emphasis on tantric rituals, and this is reflected in the iconogra...
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Water Birds at Gokarna

Driving through Gokarna in the monsoon, the last thing we expected to see were birds. Therefore, when, in the middle of nowhere, when Samhith excitedly shouted,  "Amma!! Flamingo!!" I didnt really believe him. I didn't believe my eyes either, when, a little way off, there was indeed a bird, which, from a distance, did look like a flamingo. We requested our auto driver to take us closer, without disturbing the birds, which, to our relief. he did, with a smile, here is what we saw....



Yes, it was indeed a flamingo!



And it wasnt alone. These ducks gave it company...


These are Lesser Whistling Ducks or Lesser Whistling Teals, which seem to be quite common birds, but nice to see nevertheless! Thanks Karthik for help with the identification. 


This little cormorant was busy drying itself.....



And a little farther, was this Lapwing...



Common birds they might be, but seeing them so unexpectedly, certainly perked us up!

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Location: Gokarna, Karnataka, India

Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 5, 2013 at 9:21 AM

    Chancelesss!!!! superb Click YAr!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. vaidehiNovember 5, 2013 at 8:48 PM

    Superb images !!!
    www.vaidehivaidehi.blogspot.com.au

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sankara Subramanian CNovember 6, 2013 at 4:11 AM

    WOW! Flamingos in and around Gokarna is so rare. Either you were extremely lucky or bird migration patterns have started to change. Either ways, it was good you could see these birds. I am going to give it a try too and see what comes my way :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarNovember 6, 2013 at 2:32 PM

      Thanks Sankara! we were indeed lucky, but am not really sure if it is a change in the migration pattern. there was just this one flamingo around, so it was probably lost or made the place its permanent home :D but it was nice to see it nevertheless. but do go and see if it is still there!

      Delete
  4. Paresh KaleNovember 6, 2013 at 7:14 PM

    First time seeing flamingos see around Gokarna, never knew ! TFS

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownNovember 7, 2013 at 10:09 AM

    the pictures are really great...
    the cormorant, is the best one, the moment captured is awesome...

    pulkit

    ReplyDelete
  6. MridulaNovember 9, 2013 at 5:16 PM

    The lapwing reflection looks so good!

    ReplyDelete
  7. kritikaJanuary 12, 2017 at 8:02 PM

    Hi, loved the photographs, would love read about kaikondranahalli lake birds.

    ReplyDelete

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