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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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Skywatch Friday : Nature v/s Development

For Skywatch Friday this week, here are our winged visitors, the flamingoes, seen against the backdrop of the Industrial skyline...
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Storming Sewri Part 1 - Flamingos

Last weekend, when I asked Samhith if he wanted to accompany me to Sewri, he replied, “But I have already seen flamingos!” I tried explaining that Sewri wasn’t just about flamingos, but he remained unconvinced. I signed up for the Sewri walk by Travel-Logs nevertheless, and dragged him along, remembering a time when Sewri, to me, meant even less.  
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More birds from Sewri

In my earlier post , I wrote about the flamingos we saw at Sewri. They are, after all, the main reason people flock to Sewri these days at low tide! However, there are also scores of other birds which arrive at Sewri for the insects which populate the mud flats. This post is about some of them...
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Flamingos at Sewri

I usually look forward to the weekend events conducted by the BNHS, but of late, I had been missing out on a lot of interesting ones. It had been over a year since we had joined them for a Flamingo Watch, and with my new camera, it was more than just a little tempting! However, with all the hectic events planned for our weekend, I wasn't sure if Samhith would be up and ready so early in the morning. However, it is only for school that I have to shake him awake. Just one call and he was up and ready, in  less than 15 minutes, all set for the exciting day ahead! 
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Waders and Other Water-Birds --- A morning at the Sewri Mudflats

The first time we went to see the Flamingoes of Mumbai at Sewri with the BNHS , we were enraptured by these beautiful birds, and were surprised by the number of birds, not just flamingoes, which arrived in this crowded metropolis! Since then, we twice lost the opportunity of joining the BNHS on their bird watching trips, due to prior engagements. I had lost all hopes of seeing these birds again this year, but thankfully, Adesh Shivkar of the Mumbai Bird Club announced a birding trail to Sewri this Saturday, and I jumped at the chance to take Samhith along on another bird-watching jaunt. This time , I also roped along my friend, Usha , who will shortly be shifting to Delhi . She had to go somewhere else, but agreed to join me and Samhith for at least a couple of hours. So, the three of us set off at the break of dawn to see what and how many birds we were able to identify! The very first sight that met us at Sewri was a sea of pink, the flamingoes much closer than they were, the las...
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A Date with Flamingoes

Sunday – 15th of March – BNHS had organised a flamingo-watch at Sewri Jetty. The mud flats at Sewri attract throngs of these beautiful pink birds every year, and huge crowds of birdwatchers gather to see the spectacular sight. I had always hoped to be one of this crowd, but somehow or the other, this pleasure eluded me for so many years. This year, I decided that I just HAD to go, and looked around for company. No one I knew seemed to be interested, or free, and finally, it was down to just Samhith and me…… The two of us decided to go ahead anyway, in spite of the fact that we did not have any binoculars (The BNHS guys, when we called up, told us to bring a pair of binocs along, for better viewing)… The Mud Flats - a closer view Samhith was so excited, he woke up early without any prodding on my behalf, and we were ready at 9AM after a good breakfast. The first excitement of the day for Samhith was the local train ride to Sewri by the harbour line. He memorised the names of ten s...
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