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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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Chestnut Shouldered Petronia

A flock of birds pecking at something on the ground caught my attention. They looked like sparrows, so I turned my attention instead to a Little Green Bee Eater plucking out insects from the air. It was only when the tiny sparrow landed nearer me that I realised it wasn’t a sparrow – or at least, it wasn’t the common House Sparrow I see everywhere.



Out came the camera and I clicked furiously as the flock went about having their lunch.


It was Karthik who enlightened me about the identity of these birds – these are Yellow Throated Sparrows, also called Chestnut Shouldered Petronias. They are a species of sparrow found in Asia, from Turkey to Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. There are vagrants found in Sri Lanka and also Myanmar. Apparently, it’s quite a common bird, found in gardens, fields, and forests, and it made me wonder why I haven’t noticed any before.


Can you see the dark brownish or chestnut patch on the shoulder? That, and the pale yellow patch on its throat (which you can see if you look really close, unfortunately, I need a better camera to show you) give the bird its name.





Interestingly, this is the bird which is said to have introduced the legendary Salim Ali to Ornithology. As a young boy, he shot a sparrow that looked different, and the then secretary of the BNHS (Bombay Natural History Society) identified it for him, and also introduced him to the subject. His interest was sparked, and he went on to become probably the most well-known ornithologist of the country. Isn’t it interesting to see how simple things like these change the course of a person’s life? 

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Comments

  1. MridulaJanuary 8, 2014 at 12:37 PM

    I guess I have never seen it before! Looks pretty.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarJanuary 10, 2014 at 7:50 PM

      next time you see a sparrow, take a closer look, Mridula! you never know!

      Delete
  2. mygreatstay.comJanuary 10, 2014 at 12:36 PM

    As you love travelling, here is a website www.mygreatstay.com which is a travel portal listing homestays across India. It is a very good guide to mostly unexplored locations in India.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarJanuary 10, 2014 at 7:52 PM

      Thank you, but I already know about you guys. have even booked homestays a couple of times.

      Delete
  3. Anuradha ShankarJanuary 10, 2014 at 7:51 PM

    Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJanuary 15, 2014 at 11:13 AM

    Hello mam, It sounds very good when I visited your great blog and felt nice even I read your entire blog like photograph collection super means It was awesome overall... Thanks for share

    ReplyDelete

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