Monday, June 4, 2012

Udaygiri Triology

There are three different places by the name of Udaygiri in India as far as my understanding. All the three are famous heritage sites known for the caves in these locations. If one of them is in Madhya Pradesh state, and the other two are in Orissa state.



In Orissa Udaygiri, Jain Heritage site is very close to the state capital Bhunaneshwar. If one travels mere 6 kms one can witness this magnificent caves inhabited by Jain monks in the 2nd century BCE. There are several caves here of different sizes and some of them have unique carvings in them.


Second Udaygiri, Buddist Heritage site in Orissa is approximately 90 kms away from state capital Bhunaneshwar. Here in the forest region one can see excavated Stupas and layout of various centers that existed in between 7th and 12th century.


The Udaygiri, Hindu Heritage site in Madhya Pradesh is very close to World Heritage site Saanchi. Here in 4th to 5th century caves, we can see several forms of the Lord, the most famous being Varaha Avatar.

46 comments:

Living In Williamsburg Virginia said...

Regardless of which Udaygiri it is, the photos are great.

Darryl and Ruth :)

krishna said...

very good info.. i only knew the udaygiri near bhubneswar..

Vineeta Yashsavi said...

Interesting place... I would love to go there... Thanks to share...

Jeevan said...

There's another place in the name of Udayagiri... which is a fort come park near the Padmanabhapuram Palace in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu.

Wonderful photos Rajesh! The Buddish Heritage is impressive.

Lowell said...

I'll bet when these caves were dug, the people did not think that 1700 years later, they would become famous "heritage sites." :-)

Pretty amazing!

Shoshana said...

India is extraordinary in its rich culture and history. Thanks for sharing it here. I like reading about it.

joo said...

Awesome photos!

Reader Wil said...

There must be a lot of World Heritage sites in India. In my newspaper every Saturday we get an extra magazine about World Heritage sites, may be Saanchi is also in one of them.

Carver said...

Very interesting tour of these fascinating places.

Sylvia K said...

Wonderful, fascinating post for the day, Rajesh, and great captures as always! Hope you have a great week!

Sylvia

eileeninmd said...

It is interesting to see these World Heritage sites. Thanks for the tour, your photos are wonderful.

Magical Mystical Teacher said...

I love the pinkish/reddish stone I can see in the photos!

Ruby, Blue, Yellow

Meoww said...

Wow! Where all have you travelled!

Amazing captures of places so close to home... Keep going!

Cheers

KB said...

Beautiful pics.

Al said...

What awesome cave dwellings. We have old Native American cave dwellings here in Colorado but I've not yet seen any of them.

Arija said...

How interesting to have such diverse faiths so close together.

Andrea said...

Thanks for the tour, i recall my trips to Cambodia and Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Ramakrishnan said...

Golden heritage sites of India. Nice captures

Anonymous said...

What a great heritage site.

Black Jack's Carol said...

I think it would be fascinating to go inside those caves. How wonderful to have a key to understand something of life as it was so long ago.

Fun60 said...

The carvings and sculptures are amazing. They seem to have been preserved well. I am surprised the monsoons haven't caused more erosion.

Zuzana said...

The second collage reminds me of Inca ruins.;) Very interesting:;)
xoxo

genie said...

What a wonderful experience to visit these caves. It is like you are entering a new rather than old world. It is amazing how well preserved they are. I am wondering how they got the red color to the carvings...here we have bloodroot. The views ae spectacular. genie

Roger Owen Green said...

multiple place names CAN be confusing, in the US too!
ROG, ABC Wednesday team

RNSANE said...

I am always amazed at incredible India. I arrive in Mumbai the 19th of June...head to Jaipur on the 23rd and have rented a room there for at least one month, perhaps all 6 months, though I will travel about a bit. I am becoming Indian!! At heart, definitely.

My Ruby Tuesday 2 post is at:

http://rnsane.blogspot.com/2012/06/ruby-2-red-and-black-flowers-june-5.html#links

Anonymous said...

another fascinating post. my india trip is a month away, i'm so excited.

Ann said...

Awesome historical pictures, thanks for sharing all the detailed info.
ann

George said...

These sound like fascinating sites to visit. Your photos are very good and give a good idea of what can be seen at each location.

Jessica said...

what pretty red steps :-) love the structure too :-) Dropping by from RT2

http://adventurousjessy.blogspot.com/2012/06/red-sweet-watermelon.html

Carol said...

Beautiful views!

NatureStop said...

Very interesting post!

Shantana

Chubskulit Rose said...

Another beautiful place in your side of the world.

Rose, ABC Wednesday Team

Eden said...

Beautiful place to visit. Great shots.

Hazel said...

Caves are fascinating. India never runs out of charming spots!

Pietro Brosio said...

Great charm indeed, nice images Rajesh!

Panchali said...

Been there some years backk. The pics made me nostalgic...wonderful carvings!!

Joy said...

To have inspired three religious traditions makes it a unique and powerful place.

Rajesh said...

Thanks to all for appreciating this heritage.

Jeevan, good to know that there is one more [place with same name and equally important.

Unknown said...

very interesting history pictures of your culture. hope you can visit my My Ruby Tuesday here.

joy said...

Nice to know and see something from India. Dropping by through " Our World Tuesday"

Anonymous said...

informative post and nice captures !!
MP and Orissa are so similar in terms of how they look .. its difficult to make out from a snap unless mentioned !! thanks for the share

Anonymous said...

Nice photos... place is just closed to my heart...

sushmitha said...

Nice captures. Good info.

vanderloost said...

Pictorial history

Arti said...

Beautiful place with equally beautiful pictures.. so much still left for me to see. Wish to be there some day.

Rajesh said...

Iasm glad you all liked this place.