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Odisha Part 10: Bhubaneshwar – the city of temples

Bhubaneshwar is often called the city of temples . It is impossible to know exactly how many temples there are, but it has been estimated that there might be over 700 temples in the city. This number, while impressive, is just a fraction of the original number, which, sometime in the 13 th century, would have been about 7000. Wikipedia has a page dedicated to the Hindu temples of Bhubaneshwar , where 93 temples are listed. All these are ancient temples, built between the 7 th and 13 th centuries CE. Bhubaneshwar was once known as Ekamra Kshetra , the sacred mango grove. We know this name from an inscription at the Ananta Vasudeva temple, which mentions the name of the place, and the main temple (that we now know as the Lingaraja temple) in the mango grove. Ananta Vasudeva Temple, with a sculpture of Trivikrama in the niche It is extremely interesting to note that the Ananta Vasudeva temple is the only temple to Lord Vishnu in this city. Varaha, Ananta Vasudeva Temple Located v...
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Waders (and other birds) somewhere near Mysore

Looking at the photos of the birds I clicked during my recent Dandeli trip, I have been remembering all the birds we saw near Mysore during our vacation in May.... which reminded me that I had yet not completed that series. On that note, here is another one.. this one about some birds we saw in a marshy area just outside the city...



It was the Oriental White Ibis, or the Black Headed Ibis which first drew our attention and got us to stop in the first place. A closer look revealed that there were many waders around. Even among the ibis, we spotted this one, which I think is a juvenile...


This Grey Heron stood tall by the water, posing beautifully for us! 



 Pond Herons are a common sight for us, but still, it was impossible not to click this one as it stood prettily among the lily pads.


Among all these waders sat a lone Brahminy Kite......


A little farther were a few more interesting birds....

 

A flock of Black Ibis..



And among them, a flock of Purple Moorhen too...




Our tryst with birds during the summer vacation began with these birds just outside Mysore, and continued for the next week as we saw birds wherever we went - especially Kukkarahalli Kere and Karanji Lake. But the most spectacular sight was at the Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary - an experience I have yet to write about. So, stay tuned, and you can look forward to loads more birds on the blog...
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  1. R Niranjan DasJanuary 15, 2014 at 11:41 AM

    That is a whole lot of colourful birds. Nice captures.

    http://rajniranjandas.blogspot.in

    ReplyDelete

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