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Odisha Part 10: Bhubaneshwar – the city of temples

Bhubaneshwar is often called the city of temples . It is impossible to know exactly how many temples there are, but it has been estimated that there might be over 700 temples in the city. This number, while impressive, is just a fraction of the original number, which, sometime in the 13 th century, would have been about 7000. Wikipedia has a page dedicated to the Hindu temples of Bhubaneshwar , where 93 temples are listed. All these are ancient temples, built between the 7 th and 13 th centuries CE. Bhubaneshwar was once known as Ekamra Kshetra , the sacred mango grove. We know this name from an inscription at the Ananta Vasudeva temple, which mentions the name of the place, and the main temple (that we now know as the Lingaraja temple) in the mango grove. Ananta Vasudeva Temple, with a sculpture of Trivikrama in the niche It is extremely interesting to note that the Ananta Vasudeva temple is the only temple to Lord Vishnu in this city. Varaha, Ananta Vasudeva Temple Located v...
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Camouflage!

We noticed this insect just because it jumped as Samhith was trying to pick up a stone! Otherwise we wouldn't even have known it was there! Any idea about which insect it is?
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About Weavers and Munias,Lapwings and Robins.... Other birds at Morachi Chincholi

While peacocks did grab the eyeball s on our trip to Morachi Chincholi , there were plenty of other birds around as well. A tree near us was full of birds we thought were sparrows - till a yellow pair joined the lot! I tried to grab a pic, and only when I took a closer look did I realise that the other small birds werent sparrows at all, but some other small birds..... A look at the bird book made me think that the yellow one was a Baya Weaver , but I had no clue to the others. Finally I decided to ask for expert opinion, and asked a friend, who pointed out that there wasn't just  a male baya weaver in the pic, but also a female (which I hadn't noticed), and that the other small birds were Indian Silverbills , also called White-throated Munias . Thanks so much, Adesh , for the identification! How many of you noticed the female weaver bird to the left of the group? It wasn't really surprising to see these birds, considering what we saw in an old, disused well on the farm...
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Morachi Chincholi - Part 3 - The Natural Potholes at Nighoj, and much, much more...

Please read the first two parts of this series at Morachi Chincholi – Part 1 Morachi Chincholi – Part 2 – Peacocks galore! Having had enough of peacocks for the moment, and sated with the delicious Pohe , we turned to some other activities our hosts had lined up for us – the first of these was a bullock cart ride, which we adults enjoyed as much as the kids did! Amidst squeals of delight, we all managed to climb in and have a tour of the farmhouse, probably making the bullocks wonder why we humans were making so much of noise! The one thing we missed was milking the cows, since that was done early at dawn, even before we awoke. But we made the most of the other resources at the farmhouse, walking on the fields and seeing the irrigation mechanism and in general, learning more about rural life! Samhith and his new-found friend even had a wonderful bath with well water pouring out of the motorized system. Hurrying them up and getting them out of the water was a difficult task, but ...
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Morachi Chincholi - Part 2 - Peacocks Galore!!!!

Please read the first part of this series at   Morachi Chincholi - Part 1 It was difficult to sleep considering how excited we were, but the wonderful weather and the sounds of the night lulled us to sleep, and we were soon lost to the world. Not for too long, however… we were awakened at the crack of dawn by the peacocks emerging from their hideouts and calling out to their mates. Rushikesh knocked on our door to tell us that there was one just outside our window and we rushed to peep out, scaring the poor fellow away! One by one we filed out of the room, cameras in hand, ready to spot and capture the birds on film. It wasn’t so easy, however….. The villagers were so used to them that they hardly paid any attention, going about their morning duties as usual. The peacocks therefore felt comfortable around them, and went about their feeding and other chores without any fear. A group of ten enthusiastic city dwellers was another matter, and they were rightfully scared of us. Th...
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