Skip to main content

Posts

Featured Post

Odisha Part 11: Discovering the Jaina Heritage of Odisha at the caves of Udaygiri and Khandgiri

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 ...
1 comment
Read more

Faces in the Crowd : Two strangers at Amritsar

For Faces in the crowd today, I have two strangers.... two people I clicked at the Golden temple, Amritsar....
11 comments
Read more

Bhimashankar - a blend of spirituality and nature

Among the 12 sacred shrines of Lord Shiva known as the Jyotirlingams, the one nearest to me was the one which eluded me the longest! The 11 others are located all over India. The one I visited first was the farthest –Kedarnath, which is over 2000 Km away! Bhimashankar is barely 200 Km from Mumbai, and yet I had to wait for years.
12 comments
Read more

Feathered Friends

There is one tree in our colony which is the meeting point of the birds. It stands on the edge of our common ground, giving a view of the temple, and a whole square filled with buildings. I have often wondered what it is that draws birds to this tree.... but recently, my thoughts have taken a different direction. I often see groups of birds perched on a particular branch of this tree..... A couple of weeks back, there were these three Coppersmith barbets....
5 comments
Read more

A Festival and a Press Conference

Being stuck inside a bus all alone can be scary. Especially considering the times we are living in. I wondered whether I would be better off getting out, but the situation outside did not look too good either. In sharp contrast to the interior of the bus, the outside was filled with people – loud, hooting bands of guys filling trucks, tempos, and whatever vehicles they could find. I decided I was much safer inside, with the driver and conductor alone for company. For the umpteenth time, I wondered what I was doing, late in the evening, stuck in a bus, on my way to a press conference I wasn’t sure I wanted to attend!
2 comments
Read more

Book Review: Thundergod : The Ascendance of Indra, by Rajiv G. Menon

There is something about mythology that attracts me. Having grown up on a steady diet of stories from Indian mythology, somewhere, there has always been an urge to rationalize the stories, to search for their roots, and somehow connect them to history. 
5 comments
Read more

Happy Republic Day!

Sitting in our room at Mashobra, every morning, around 10, we could hear the distant sounds of a band. The day we went on a trek, we learnt that the sound came from the Government school at Mashobra.
9 comments
Read more

Skywatch Friday - A Fiery Sunrise

The day after the spectacular moonrise  at Mashobra, the sun seemed to have decided that it needed to put up just as spectacular a display.....so, it was a fiery sunrise that greeted us... For more beautiful skies from around the world, visit the Skywatch page.
10 comments
Read more