So I am now pretty stable in BBSR. I can easily recognise the similar kinda roads which seemed to be so confusing in my early days. In weekends I freak out with friends, go to Oxford to dip into the books-ocean. Some rainy evenings feel cosy with hot chocolate and simple chitchat in CCD. One day mom called. Can you take me to your BBSR? I thought why not. It’s been long time mom has not left my hometown. So the plan is on. Next week end, mom came with my younger bro and we visited some local historical places.
Khandagiri: It’s a local excavation in BBSR itself. The city looks so cool from the 118 ft high hill.
Khandagiri alias ‘The Broken hill’ is said to be modelled by the Jain king Kharavela [168 to 153 B.C.]. As you go upstairs you get lots of stepping compartments made of sand stones; each looks like some caves. They say these as ‘Gumpha’. Tatwa gumpha or parrot caves (as figures of parrots were carved on the doorways), Ananta gumpha or snake caves (two snakes curved out from the rocks), Navamuni gumpha (called so due to the 9 tirthankars carved on the walls),barabhuji gumpha and more such 15 caves are there. The caves have chronicles of Kharavela’s history in Pali scripts which are well protected in some places by a glass partition. Because Pali scripts are some of the rarest treasures of India. We heard that much restoration work has taken place at the site in recent years under the supervision of the Archaeological Survey of India.
On the top of the hill there’s a Jain temple and a monument is standing from 18th century. This was dedicated to Rishabnath. A panoramic view of the total city captivates you as you reach at the temple. There are some images of Jain Tirthankars inside the temple.
The peaceful surrounding attracts lots of pilgrims and monks who come there to meditate. Apart from the bird view of BBSR you can also see another hill just facing to Khandagiri on the other side of the road below. That’s called Udaygiri alias ‘The hill of sunrise’.
Udaygiri: 18 magnificent caves are there on the flight of steps. Rani gumpha, the largest one, having two storied cave. Excavated on three sides of quadrangle have pillared balconie. Hati gumpha has masterly carving of six vigorous elephants flanking its entrance.
Alakapuri gumpha, Jayavijaya gumpha, ganesh gumpha(The carvings tell the story of the elopement of Bassavadatta, Princess of Ujjayini, with King Udayan of Kausambi in the company of Vasantaka) and other caves also have stone carvings, saying Kharavela’s life history and expeditions.
The beautiful architecture and calmness will surely bring you to the ages of Tirthankars and the king Kharavela. The themes, carved on the walls, reflecting some Jain symbols, the dance performance for the Royal couple, the warriors, victory march of a king etc attract lots of tourists as well as archaeologists every year.
Dhauligiri: Next, we headed to Dhauli, the Peace park where King Ashoka started his ‘Dharma Vijay’ after destroying 150,000 innocent lives in Kalinga [Orissa is ancient Kalinga] war. 7km away from the main city, it’s a white temple on another hill. It is said that in the vast field, behind the hill, blood was streamed by the Mauryan warriors in 265 BC. The road with greens on either side leaded us to the hill. We saw some stalls of Indian masala making materials and kajus, also some fruit juice centres. Kids have come from the school on an excursion.
As we proceeded we saw two sunkissed golden lions on entrance of the glooming white temple. I can still remember the charismatic designs on the walls of temple, each saying some story on Buddhism. People there had put some coating on these fine designs to protect them from salty wind, coming from Bay of Bengal.
The lying Buddha and the meditating Buddha models with closed eyes replicate a feel of peace and utter satisfaction of the inner soul.
So once you plan to visit Orissa, never miss these places. I bet if you are a lover of ancient India and its culture these spots will mesmerize you. Yet I felt Govt should more care for these national properties. Still there are so many architectures [may be one can't count its historical value] are left neglected. Once we lose this no one will come to rebuild.
To reach there: Birju Pattnaik airport is around at 7km distance from main city, BBSR. BBSR station is connected to all metros and many small cities. You can cover three of these in a one day trip.
