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 ...
The Sripuram Golden temple at Vellore was one temple I had been hearing a lot about, but had no plans of visiting on my Tirupati trip. For one thing, it wasn’t an ancient temple which draw me much more than anything else, and secondly, I felt it would be a better idea to make a visit from Chennai rather than Tirupati. However, as it happened, we found ourselves taking the APSRTC package tour to Kanipakkam and Sripuram, thanking our stars for the decision, since it poured constantly all day long, and we saw flooded roads all along the route. We would surely have been stalled had we taken any other mode of transport! The Sripuram Golden temple has been built on 100 acres of land in Vellore by the Narayani Peetham headed by Shakti Amma. It’s a beautifully constructed temple situated in the centre of exquisitely laid out gardens and a pathway in the shape of a star. Cameras were not allowed inside, so I could not take any pics, but a google search yielded too many, so here are a few, as...