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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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Birds from my Window - Crow Pheasant

The Greater Coucal, called a Crow Pheasant, is neither a crow nor a pheasant, but belongs to the cuckoo family. They are commonly called 'Bharadvaj', and sighting them is believed to be a good omen.





We see them quite often in my area, and this one perched on a tree in our compound for a while, drying its feathers after the rains.



They are bigger than the crows, and look a lot stronger too, but at least where I live, the crows rule the roost. This one had a hard time getting dry, pestered as it was, constantly, by the crows, until it finally gave up and flew away.

I live in Mumbai, in a colony lucky enough to still have plenty of trees and open spaces. The best part of living here are the birds I see from my window, every single day. "Birds from my Window" is a series, where I regularly feature photos of birds I see from my home. To see all the posts in this series, click here. 


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Comments

  1. ajaySeptember 2, 2014 at 6:07 PM

    nice blog and photography

    ReplyDelete
  2. TusharSeptember 13, 2014 at 12:52 PM

    I have to read what is good omen. And this is the first time I saw this bird. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete

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