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 ...
Christmas vacation is on , and our long vacation has been cut short to just a few days... more about that later... but as of now, we are stuck at home, with only trips to the ration office to look forward to (Ration card verification is on, you see, and there are forms to be filled.... papers to be attested.... and finally documents are to be submitted... amidst many arguments in hindi/marathi of course.....). We decided to take a break and head out to some temples within Bombay - Siddhivinayak, Phanaswadi (Venkateswara Temple at C.P.Tank), and Mahalakshmi..... While I did click some pics of the first, I was dissuaded from using them, thanks to a couple of the army officers asking me not to click pics, so I am not going to put them up. There were no such restrictions at the other temples, but I stuck to just the outer view, and did not even try for some more.... But here are a few glimpses from our day out.... I have always been fascinated by the old houses and buildings o...