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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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Memories of 2013 - Travel Vignettes - Coorg

Our trip to Coorg was on a sudden impulse. Three short days were nowhere near enough to do justice to the beauty or the heritage of the region. The first image that comes to mind, when I now look back on those three blissful days is this....





Samhith swimming in the Cauvery at Bhagamandala. It was meant to be a short halt, on the way back from Tala Cauvery, but the cool waters and the lack of crowds encouraged us to spend a lot more time than we intended. Later, we spent more time on the banks of the Cauvery, this time at the Dubare elephant camp.


If we were stunned by the amazingly beautiful and elaborate paintings at the Monasteries in Bylakuppe...



We were equally fascinated by the ruined fort at Madikeri.


We had been trying to visit Coorg for all of 11 years. We actually made the bookings twice, and had to cancel each time, for some reason or the other. That we broke the jinx this year, only makes me happier, though the duration of the trip made it impossible for us to do anything off the beaten track. Yet, it was  great trip to start off the year with! 

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  1. UnknownDecember 21, 2013 at 2:32 PM

    Nice photos Anuradha. Loved the post.

    Check out my photographs on City and Architecture, hope you will like them!
    URL: http://picsonia.blogspot.com/2013/12/a-bit-of-city-and-architecture.html

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