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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 - Purple Rumped Sunbird

Their busy twittering is the one that I hear every morning, as I relax with my morning cup of coffee. Capturing them on camera hasn't been so easy though, which is why, when I saw one of them grooming himself on a tree right oopposite my window, I set aside my coffee and rushed for my camera! This is what I managed to photograph.... The Purple Rumped Sunbird....






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. Prasad NpSeptember 22, 2014 at 9:59 AM

    Sunbirds are extremely tough to click as they continuously move and are tough to focus on... Good capture after all the patience...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarSeptember 22, 2014 at 10:13 AM

      Thank you, Prasad! It was really tough to photograph, but I finally managed :D

      Delete
  2. trystwithmilesSeptember 23, 2014 at 4:52 PM

    Beautiful clicks and an awesome blog. !

    ReplyDelete
  3. AmitaverseSeptember 26, 2014 at 3:38 PM

    Great pics!! What camera?

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownOctober 18, 2014 at 10:35 AM

    When I was a child, I fostered a dream to become an ornithologist. I remember those days now as I read your blog. You have captured some impeccable pictures of the Sunbird. Thank you for sharing these pictures on the blog.

    ReplyDelete

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