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...
No holidays, no vacations... no travel, no blogs to write... For more than a month, I have only been reading blogs... not writing any.... Of course, I have come across a number of interesting blogs in this period. You can check them out in the " Blogs I Follow " list on the side bar. Well, sitting at home, I have been looking for things to write about, and finally, I have found what I wanted, right in my back-yard, so to speak! I am lucky to live in an area, right in the middle of the concrete jungle that is Bombay, where time stands still and nature remains undisturbed, thanks to some bureaucratic muddle. Some time back, I had put up a post on Sulekha , about the abundance of nature in my garden. Check it out here . Samhith had been pestering me to carry my camera along every morning while we waited for his bus, and when I finally agreed, I was rewarded with some wonderful sights. As they say – Seek and Ye Shall Find ! To begin with, I always thought Ashoka trees were t...