At Udayagiri, the Buddhist site in Orissa, ASI have excavated many interesting structures that were created any time between 7th and 12th century. One such excavation has brought to light the remains of a huge monastic complex comprising a Mahastupa and an east facing square monastery.
This monastery has the mountains as its backdrop giving it a majestic look. The monastery measures about 35 M sq. and had 21 cells.
At the back-end of the courtyard, in the sanctum there is a huge 12 feet statue of Buddha in Bhumisparsha Mudra. On his either side are Vajrapani and Padmapani.
The door frame to the sanctum is beautifully carved. The detailing with flying apsaras, pupil climbing vines, elephants are simply beautiful. The eyes, nose and lips of a miniature human forms are crafted with at most care.
Nadankanan Zoo at Bhubaneswar is one of great zoo in India. There are various animals and birds at the zoo.
We went on a safari to nearby forest and we could see the beautiful peacock sitting on a tree.
This is thirty-third in the series on the rich cultural heritage of temples in India. The ancient monuments of India are richly carved and they behold ones attention for their craftsmanship.
Beautiful craftsmanship on 10th century Varahi Temple at Chaurasi. One of the windows of the 14th century Rudbai Step-well at Adalaj which has been carved intricately on all corners with different motifs and animals.
The sanctum doorway of Harishchandra ni Chori at Shamalaji is adorned with bands comprising a creeper, lotus leaves and the vine. The two female figures at the base represent Ganga and Yamuna.
In Bhitarkanika National Park we hired a boat and cruised in the lake. Event it is off season we wanted to try our luck to spot some birds. One of them is Eurasian curlew.
It is one of the largest wader that is 50–60 cm in length. This is a greyish brown bird with a white back and greyish-blue legs. It is a very long curved bill.
It feeds by probing soft mud for small invertebrates. It is one of the most widespread of the curlews, and can be seen across Europe and Asia.
Bhitarkanika National Park is home for many common as well as rare birds. We spotted few common birds while going in a boat ride in the river.
Satyabadi Gopinath Temple in the small town of Sakigopal is an ancient 15th century temple. It is now known by the name Sakigopal Temple. This temple is one of the sacred destinations for the tourist and people generally visit this temple along with Sri Jaganath Temple of Puri.
This beautiful temple is built in the Kalinga style of temple architecture. The temple is dedicated to Lord Gopinath.
There are beautiful carved sculptures around the external walls of the temple.
How to Reach: This place is just 19 kms away from Puri on the Puri - Bhubaneshwar highway.
Chilka Lake which is around 55 kms from Puri is home for many birds. One can get to see many birds in this place during the winter months. Among other birds we could spot Egret.
Puri Beach is on the shore of the Bay of Bengal in the holy city of Puri.
The beach is comparatively clean and quite place.
The long sandy beach is picturesque and the water here is shallow, offering excellent bathing facilities.
The kids had good fun with the waves.
The excavation conducted by Archaeological Survey of India at Ratnagiri have yielded various interesting structures of the during the reign of the Gupta king Narasimha Baladitya in the first half of the sixth century CE. These structures were built till 12th century CE.
One among them is Stupa No 1 located on the south-western flank of the highest part of the hill. This large brick stupa has a 47 feet square base with a height of 17 feet. Sadly the superstructure is missing and it consists of five recesses and six projections.
It is surrounded by a large number of votive Stupas of varying dimensions.
There are hundreds of miniature votive stupas decorated with lotus petals and beaded tassels.
Bindu Sarovar in Bhubaneshwar is a sacred lake surrounded by various temples. The 1300 feet long and 700 feet wide large lake has a tiny island with several shrines in its middle. This lake is also known as Ocean Drop Tank.
As per legend the lake was created by Lord Shiva by pouring water from all the holy places to quench the thirst of Goddess Parvati.
This lake on one side has the famous Lingaraj Temple and while in other direction it has Ananta Vasudeva Temple.
The lake is the venue for conducting the ritual bath of Lord Lingaraj held during the annual festival.
This is thirty second in the series on the rich cultural heritage of temples in India. The sculptural work in each of these temples are always admirable.
In the Chennakesava Temple of Belur there are several beautiful sculptures created in 1175 A.D. Here one can see a sculpture of Garuda as soon as one enters temple complex.
There are beautiful sculptures on the tower of the 10th century Lingaraj Temple in Bhubaneshwar.
The pillar that has been carved from all the directions to tell stories from Hindu epics. This is inside the 15th century Ganesha Temple at Kurudumale.
In Konarak, the Sun Temple Complex has few more temples other than the main Sun Temple. The notable among them is to the west of the main temple popularly called Mayadevi Temple.
Built in 11th century AD, the temple facing east comprises of sanctum and a porch standing over a raised platform. The top portion of the sanctum and porch are missing.
It is believed to have been dedicated to one of the wives of Lord Surya. However, the image of Sun God in the temple indicates that it may be a temple built earlier than main temple.
The interior of the porch is notable for their beautiful sculptural work.
On the external side the temple exhibits lot of sculptural marvels. One of the interesting sculpture is that of a crocodile.
This is thirtieth in the series on the rich cultural heritage of ancient temples in India. The ancient temples showcase sculptural work that is unmatched anywhere in the world.
A beautiful Shivalinga at Parasurameswara Temple in Bhubaneshwar, the unique feature is that there are several miniature Shivalinga carved on it. It is said t there are all together 1000 on them.
The external wall of the Jain Temples inside the Golden Fort at Jaisalmer has several beautiful sculptures carved on them.
One of the many carvings on the ceiling of Thousand Pillar Basadi at Moodabidri.
At A.S.I Museum in Shimoga there are several sculptures excavated from various locations in India. They are on display in the lawn of the museum.
Nadankanan Zoo at Bhubaneswar is one of great zoo in India. There are various animals and birds at the zoo. We can also see here Spotted Deer.
Nadankanan Zoo at Bhubaneswar is one of great zoo in India. There are various animals and birds at the zoo. There are also various species of snakes.
This is twenty-eight in the series on the rich cultural heritage of ancient temples in India. The ancient temples have beautiful carvings on them that are treat to the eyes.
A sculpture of Salabhanjika in the 12th century Hoysaleswara Temple at Halebid. She is setting her ear rings by looking into the mirror in another hand.
A sculpture of Yakshi in the 15th century Vittala Temple at Hampi.
A sculpture of Brahma on the external wall of 12th century Chennakesava Temple of Belur.
Another beautiful sculpture on the external wall of Rajarani Temple at Bhubaneshwar.
This is twenty-seventh in the series on the rich cultural heritage of ancient temples in India. The ancient temples have numerous carvings carved both on the interior as well as exterior of the temples. Many of the carvings depict the war scenes as scripted in various epics and mythology.
Above is the scene "battle between Ravana and Lord Rama" from the epic Ramayana carved at the 12th century Hoysaleswara Temple at Halebid.
A pillar of Ramlingeshwar Temple at Avani where 3 different battle ready horse riders are carved with very minute differences.
A band of battle scene on the external wall of Mallikarjuna Temple, Basaralu.
The band with slight different color is from the Parashurameshvara Temple at Bhubaneshwar.
