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...
Going to Shirdi h as almost become a routine trip for us, especially when my sister-in-law comes over. Thanks to her and her husband, I get to go there at least once a year. This year, as usual, it was a on-the-spur-of-the-moment-decision, and off we went, with a car hired at the last moment, just waiting long enough for Samhith to return home from school. We started at around 4:30PM, and without halting anywhere enroute, reached Shirdi at around 9:45PM. Every trip to Shirdi however has something unique and interesting to offer, and this time, it was the sight of people walking to Shirdi. For those of you to whom this is news, well, people do walk from Mumbai to Shirdi all the time, but especially for the Ram Navami Festival. They walk over a period of 6 to 7 days, halting at various places in the afternoons when it is too hot to walk, and at night when they need the much needed rest. They travel with an entourage, a tempo for their luggage, one for their food, and led by a Pal...