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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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Faces in the Crowd - A Selfie Moment

Somewhere in McLeod Ganj....



A couple of monks with a friend were roaming around, the monks were bored, the friend was trying to click a selfie! It was a moment, just asking to be caught on camera!

People-Watching is fun, though not as much to click them, at least for me! However, when they are so engrossed in their own selves, and least bothered about who is watching... or clicking... them, I sometimes give in to the impulse and capture them on my camera!

What do you think of this photo? I would love to hear your thoughts!

This post is part of my series on my #summertrip 2015, and I hope to take you along with me as I recount stories from my month long trip, which took me across the country. To get an idea of all the places I visited, and what you can hope to read about, click here.  

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  • The Himachal Series- 

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Comments

  1. Shrinidhi HandeJune 29, 2015 at 6:21 AM

    nice. he could have requested the monk to look at the camera

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarJuly 22, 2015 at 8:25 AM

      They were actually together, Shrinidhi... seemed to know each other... but i have no idea why they were so bored with each other that they were all looking in different directions...

      Delete
  2. UshaJuly 20, 2015 at 7:34 PM

    Talk about friendship! Each one in his own world.

    ReplyDelete

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