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...
We stayed at the Mizka Homestay in Leh , a small, simple place, an old house extended to accommodate guests. It is located on one of the inner roads off the market, so was peaceful and quiet. There were 4 rooms on the first floor, for guests. One of these is actually a kitchen which doubles up as a guest room when there are extra visitors. All the rooms were occupied, since this was the peak tourist season, but we met only one other guest, a Brazilian from Copenhagen on a long tour of South-East Asia. Our room at the Mizka Homestay What I loved was the seating arrangement in the common/ dining area, which had these low seats, reminding me of the low palagas we sit on, in south India. The dining room at the homestay It was also interesting to learn that rice was the staple for most people in the region. I have no notes of the food we ate, in my diary… not surprising, since I barely notice what I eat, and am not very happy to experiment. But I do remember that we asked our hoste...