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| Orissa Tourism > Historic Tours of Orissa |
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| Khandagiri: |
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Only
a few buses go specifically to the caves, but there
are plenty which pass the nearby junction, the main
Calcutta to Madras highway. The caves on the opposite
hill, Khandagiri, can be reached either by the long
flights of steps leading from the road, just up from
the main entrance to the Udaigiri caves, or cutting
directly across from Hathi Gumpha via steps that drop
down from cave 17. The latter route brings you out
at caves 1 and 2, known as the "Parrot Caves"
for the carvings of birds on their doorway-arches.
Cave 2, excavated in the first century BC, is the
larger and more interesting. On the back wall of one
of its cells, a few faint lines in red brahmini script
are thought to have been scrawled 2000 years ago by
a monk practicing his handwriting. The
relief's in cave 3, the Ananta Gumpha or "Snake
Cave"- serpents decorate the doorways -
contain the best of the sculpture on Khandagiri
hill, albeit badly vandalzed in places. Caves
7 and 8 both house relief's of Tirthankaras
on their walls as well as Hindu deities which
had, by the time conversion work was done, become
part of the Jain pantheon. The best place to
wind up a visit to Khandagiri is the modern
Jain Temple at the top of the hill. |
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Udayagiri:
Near
Bhubaneshwar. Udaigiri caves occupy a fairly compact
area around the south of the hill. Cave 1, the Rani
Gumpha or "Queen's Cave", is tucked away
around the corner. Its best sculpture is to be found
over the pillars, arches and to the rear of the courtyard
on the lower level, and across the back wall of the
upper storey, where a long frieze shows rampaging
elephants, panicking monkeys, sword fights and the
abduction of a women. Nobody, as yet, has managed
to string all these scenes into a coherent narrative,
though some are thought to illustrate episodes from
the life of Kalinga's King Kharavela. As you return
along the same path, the first caves of interest are
numbers 3 and 4 - a double-storied cave containing
sculptures of a lion holding its prey, elephants with
snakes wrapped around them and pillars topped by pairs
of peculiar winged animals.Its popular name, Ganesh
Gumpha, is not derived from the elephants in front
of the cave, but from the appearance on the rear wall
of the cell on the right of the elephant-heades Ganesh.
From here, follow the path to the ledge at the very
top of Udaigiri hill for good views and the ruins
of an old chaitya hall. This was probably the main
place of worship for the Jain monks who lived below
and may even once have housed the legendary.
Khiching:
The
ancient capital of the Bhanja rulers, Khiching lies
about 205 km away from Balasore and 150 km from Baripada.
Scores of temples dominate the place, some of which
are still in active worship. The predominant deity
of Khiching is Kichakeswari, the most sacred Goddess
of the Mayurbhanj chiefs. The temple dedicated to
Her is built entirely of chlorite slabs and unique
of its kind in India. The sculptures are beautiful.
The small museum here boasts of highly important historical
specimens of sculpture and art. |
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Barabati
Fort:
The
ruins of a medieval fort with its moat and gate
and the earthern mound of the nine-storeyed
palace on the bank of the river Mahanadi are
noteworthy. Adjacent to the fort is a modern
stadium. |
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Konark:
The
magnificent Sun Temple at Konark is the culmination
of Orissan temple architecture, and one of the most
stunning monuments of religious architecture in the
world. The poet Rabindranath Tagore said of Konark
that 'here the language of stone surpasses the language
of man', and it is true that the experience of Konark
is impossible to translate into words.The massive
structure, now in ruins, sits in solitary splendour
surrounded by drifting sand. Today it is located two
kilometers from the sea, but originally the ocean
came almost up to its base. Until fairly recent times,
in fact, the temple was close enough to the shore
to be used as a navigational point by European sailors,
who referred to it as the 'Black Pagoda'.Built by
King Narasimhadeva in the thirteenth century, the
entire temple was designed in the shape of a colossal
chariot, carrying the sun god, Surya, across the heavens.
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Tara-Tarini:
The
tradition of Shakti worship in India can be
traced back to the period of antiquity. Shakti
is the mother of Universe the highest primal
power transferred to powerful Goddess representing
the creative force, Matrika, later developed
to Shakti or Prakriti under various names of
Sati or Devi (Durga / Parvati)ad depicted in
Purana-etihasa and Tantra literature. Worship
of Shakti , as a pan -Indian phenomenon , predates
Sanskrit influences of every kind.
There
are a number of important Shakta centers in India
Among those Orissa has been considered to be one of
the most important Shakti centre and Tara-Tarini at
Kumari hills on the bank of River Rushikulya near
Purushottampur in Ganjam District is one of the most
ancient Shakti pithas of Orissa.
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Ratnagiri:
Ratnagiri
in the Birupa river valley in the district of Jajpur,
is another famous Buddhist centre. The small hill
near the village of the same name has rich Buddhist
antiquities. A large-scale excavation has unearthed
two large monasteries, a big stupa, Buddhist shrines,
sculptures, and a large number of votive stupas. This
excavation revealed the establishment of this Buddhist
centre at least from the time of the Gupta king Narasimha
Gupta Baladitya (first half of the sixth century A.D.). |
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Lalitgiri:
The
earliest Buddhist Complex dating back to the
1st century AD, Lalitgiri forms an important
node of the Diamond Triangle ie Lalitgiri (in
present Cuttack district) and Ratnagiri and
Udayagiri (in present Jajpur district). Well
connected by excellent roads to Cuttack and
Bhubaneswar, recent excavations here have brought
to light significant archaeological material
that upholds Lalitgiri as a great centre of
Buddhist attraction. The majestic ruins of the huge brick monastery, the
remains of the chaitya hall, a number of votive stupas
and a renovated stone stupa at the apex of a small
rugged sandstone hill dominate the rural greenery
around. |
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In addition, the museum displays a large number
of Mahayana sculptures consisting of colossal Buddha
figures, huge Boddhisattva statues, statues of Tara,
Jambhala and others. Interestingly, most of these
sculptures contain short inscriptions on them. The
Standing Buddha figures, with knee length draperies
over the shoulders remind one of the influence of
the Gandhara and Mathura school of art. This also
brings to mind the fact of Prajna, who had come from
Takshasila to ancient Orissa to learn the philosophy
of Yoga. He later left for China in the eigth century
A.D. with an autographed manuscript of the Buddhist
text Gandavyuha, from the then Orissan king Sivakara
Deva 1, to the Chinese Emperor Te-tsong. The discovery
of caskets containing sacred relics, probably of the
Tathagata himself, from the stone stupa at the top
of the hill, further enhances the sacredness of the
stupa as well as of Lalitgiri for Buddhists around
the world. It also brings to mind the description
of Hiuen T'sang, the famed Chinese traveller of the
seventh century A D, about the magnificent stupa on
top of a hill at Puspagiri Mahavihara which emitted
a brilliant light because of its sacredness. "
On the basis of archaeological materials including
inscriptions brought to light by excavation, Langudi
hill in Jajpur district may be identified as Puspagiri." |
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