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...
It was in early 2013 that I first heard of Tathagata Farm , near Darjeeling. They invited me to visit their farm stay, but I had no plans then, of travelling east. It was an open offer, they assured me, and I could stay with them whenever I did make the trip. Time passed, and I received a lot more such invites. Some worked, others didn't, many didn't even bother to reply. When I planned my Kolkata and Sikkim trip in December 2014, I remembered them, and wrote, wondering if they would even remember me, or their offer. Plus, I was going with Samhith and Shankar, so, I offered to pay for them, and also for an extra day. Imagine my surprise therefore, when they replied at once, graciously inviting us for two days, asking me only to pay for our transport! It’s not often that we see such hospitality, and I already looked forward to our stay there!