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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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A new trip... With a new phone!

I am relaxing in an easy chair, watching the rains lash and the waves crash against the shore. Yes, I am on another trip, this time to South India,  and as I type this, at Tarangambadi or Tranquebar. I am staying at the Neemrana property, Bungalow on the beach, and have with me for company,  Samhith of course, and the newest member of my gadget family - a Sony Xperia Z3!
The phone is with me for trial, and is proving surprisingly useful! The heavy rains have forced me to keep my camera inside and rely on the Xperia and in the process test its waterproof quality ;-)

We have been having fun trying out the phone and the many features of its camera, such as the sound pics and the panorama.

This was meant to be a long post, with my complete first impressions of the phone, but samhith has taken over my tab and I am using the phone to type this out, so this is the best I can do for my first attempt. I shall, therefore post a few of the photos clicked with the phone, and leave you to draw your own conclusions,  for now!

I shall be posting more photos regularly on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, so,  for regular updates, please follow me on :




The entrance to the Bungalow on the Beach... Strewn with flowers...

The Danish fort at Tarangambadi


That's the view from my room!!

That's where I am staying... Bungalow on the beach!

Comments

  1. R Niranjan DasOctober 18, 2014 at 5:53 PM

    This is one place I so badly want to visit.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarNovember 2, 2014 at 2:25 PM

      Its a beautiful place, Niranjan! You should certainly go!

      Delete
  2. Shrinidhi HandeOctober 19, 2014 at 11:02 AM

    Have nice trip. Neemrana Bungalow on the beach is a nice place but a bit expensive for indians... Are they serving Indian food now? Last year when we went, they only had danish food items which we didn't recognize...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarNovember 2, 2014 at 2:26 PM

      Thank you Shrinidhi! It is certainly on the expensive side, but yes, they are serving Indian food now, and good stuff too... all we had was tasty and well prepared.

      Delete
  3. TusharOctober 20, 2014 at 8:56 AM

    The same phone Mridula Dwivedi is having. You all recieved it from Sony as a gift? :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarNovember 2, 2014 at 2:27 PM

      yes, Tushar. It is the same one, and we have for trial so we can write a review.

      Delete

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