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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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A quick trip to Shirdi and Shani Shingnapur

Mumbai to Shirdi is a pilgrimage I have been fortunate to make a number of times in the recent past. The first time I visited Shirdi was with my mother, travelling in an ST ( Maharashtra State transport) bus, one of those rickety ones we see on the roads. The journey was nothing much to write about, except that we were sore, and every bone in our body was aching when we returned at last after a tedious journey which we had endured for the sole reason that we desperately wanted to have a darshan of Baba, a   pleasure which we had yearned for till then. Yes, the pleasure of the Darshan (twice- one after waiting in a queue which seemed designed to test our patience and insistence on having darshan, and the second which was so quick, and so wonderful, it was surely a gift, or a prize for having endured all that we had, and coming out with flying colours) obliterated all that from our hearts and our minds. After that, Baba seems to have summoned us often and that too in all comforts, ...
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Magnificent Munnar Part III – Goodbye to the hills

The next morning, the sun rose bright and early, leaving no signs of the fog of the day before. The view from the room was unbelievable, visibility extending to the road on the other side of the valley. Take a look at the two panoramic photos I took of the view from our room during the fog and the one the next morning in sunlight. From Munnar Aug 2008 From Munnar Aug 2008 The View from our room --in the fog, and early in the morning...... We had to start back early so that we could reach home and give Sankar a break from driving, as well take some rest before getting back to work. Besides, Samhith wanted to go back to the crocodile park at Amaravathi Nagar.   Samhith feeds the rabbits (he saved the carrots we bought....and fed them himself) and chases the sole rooster at the resort. It must have been relieved when we finally left!!! We had a heavy breakfast at Whispering Meadows, where Samhith played with pet rabbits and roosters, finally bidding them goodbye when...
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Videos of the fog

In my earlier post, I spoke of the fog and how we were thrilled by it. Here are a couple of videos I recorded, which show the extent of the fog and how the vehicles seem to appear from and dissappear into nothingness.... Go on, take a look at them.....
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Magnificent Munnar – Part II - A day in the hills

Munnar has enough magic keep one enthralled for at least 3 days. There are a number of places to see and lots of trekking routes to explore in all the four directions. We however had only a day with us, and had to make the most of it. We decided to take the route which would take us to the dams and lakes where we could spend the day boating, which Samhith enjoys immensely. As it happened, most other tourists seemed to have had the same thought, and every boating pier was full, and we had to return without a single boat ride. We had lots of fun in other ways though, but let us take things in sequence. The View From Mattupatti Dam We started for Mattupatti Dam, about 12 Kms away. Here, in the lake created by the dam, one can ride speedboats. However, the speedboats were few, and tourists too many, and we were told that we would have to wait for at least an hour. None of us is known for our patience, and we decided to move on, albeit with some reluctance. Outside the boathouse, we fou...
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Magnificent Munnar - Part I - Arrival

Munnar is one of the most beautiful hill stations of our country , one which makes the appellation of Kerala as ‘God’s own country’ come true. It is a land of mountains covered in every shade of green imaginable and unimaginable; of tea plantations which stretch over miles and miles of countryside, not sparing an inch of the mountains; of waterfalls which cascade down the mountains, their origins too high to be seen, their final destination unknown, but their force increasing by leaps and bounds of the water……. The beauties of Munnar are to be experienced, not enumerated. But the memory I shall always carry with me of this magical place is the fog - The fog which made the road ahead practically invisible; the fog which appeared out of nowhere, bringing with it the chill and the monsoon rain. But before I get carried away, I must begin at the beginning. The beginning was early in the morning on the 15th of August, our Independence Day, when we left our cosy beds to catch the first flig...
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A sudden trip to Munnar - Photos

“Let’s go to Coimbatore” said my husband, and like a dutiful wife, I agreed. But wait, that’s not where the story begins. The story begins earlier in the day, the 14th of August, when my sister-in-law was supposed to come on a visit to Bombay with her husband. We were all planning to go to Shirdi, and had made all the arrangements. Unfortunately, our plans went awry, when their plans were cancelled due to some persona problems. All of us were disappointed, but none more than my son, who simply refused to believe that his aunt was not turning up as expected. That’s when my husband returned from office and put forth his question. Coimbatore? …Now? …How? Questions flew fast and furious, but he had an answer for everything. We had a long weekend ahead, Independence Day on Friday the 15th, the weekend followed by the Parsi New Year on Tuesday. We could have five days in Coimbatore with Sandhya, just by taking a day off from school and office. Well, to cut things short, he booked tickets, a...
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