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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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Kanchenjunga Waterfalls

Taking a break from my longer posts, here is a photoblog... of a waterfall we saw near Pelling...

This is what you first see when you stop by the road



On the side is a smaller one

You turn a little and climb a flight of stairs built into the stone, and this is what you see

Another view of the main falls
Water flowing over the rocks is a pretty sight

And, on the other side, the river is a pretty sight too!

These falls, for some strange reason, are called 'Kanchenjunga Waterfalls', and apparently are a big tourist attraction here. Our driver insisted we see the falls, though we were already running late. Samhith, I must say, wasn't too impressed, having recently visited Jog Falls. But these falls were impressive in their own way, with so much water in winter, and the sheer surprise of seeing the falls just off the road. 

It was already getting dark when we reached the falls, which meant that we were the only ones there. We were told that there would have been quite a crowd, had we reached just half an hour earlier! Thank the Lord, I thought, for being late! 

Information: 
These falls are about 28 Km from Pelling, on the route to Yuksom. If you want to see them, combine a visit with a trip to Rabdentse, the Pemayangtse Monastery, and Khecheopalri Lake


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Comments

  1. R Niranjan DasMarch 18, 2015 at 11:48 AM

    Nice little falls.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMarch 31, 2015 at 2:53 PM

    outstanding pictures! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownApril 22, 2015 at 11:13 AM

    I had been to this very waterfall last June and wasn’t too impressed by this sight. There wasn’t much water when I was there but we did get a beautiful background for some nice snaps. If you are in the locality, this spot is worth a visit.

    ReplyDelete

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