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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

Starting the week with this gorgeous bird I see from my window every single morning when I send Samhith off to school....





The Purple Rumped Sunbird is a regular at our colony, and I see them everyday, busy sucking nectar from flowers. They are, however, not at all easy to photograph, and I have only been able to capture these since this one arrives every morning, just before 8 AM, perches on the wire for a while and looks all around peacefully before getting to work! 


For a tiny bird, which is less than 10cm long, it is amazingly colourful!


Look at all the different shades of blue/ purple it has, on that tiny body!


What better way to begin a week, than with such a colourful bird, right?

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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  1. CharuOctober 6, 2015 at 10:53 AM

    It's gorgeous! You are lucky to be able to spot so many lovely birds right from your window :)

    ReplyDelete

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