Beginning a series on the backyard birds in Bhubaneswar, I cannot help but start with the Haladi Basanta – almost everyone’s favourite bird and probably the bird that has stayed most firmly in our memories of childhood. And why not...
In the days of antiquity a controversy arose between Brahma and Vishnu as to which of the two was greater. Brahma said to Vishnu, “I have created the five elements and all the living beings with their endless differences in form and sound...
ARKA: (Swallowwort) Calotropis gigantea) Family: Asclepiadaceae Sanskrit name: Arka Hindi name: Aak The stern and sacrificial arka ~ Kalidasa (circa A. D 400) The arka, or swallowwort, is to all appearances a humble wayside plant, a gray-leaved...
~ “jiba jagata hoieeba lina, baaishi pahaache kheliba mina” ~ prophesised the fifteenth century saint Achyutananda Das in his famous work “Maalikaa”, according to which Puri will be submerged by the sea due to global warming and a...
The Palash or Flame of the Forest is also called the Parrot Tree. Yet another of nature’s interesting patterns. Most other flowers in flowering trees are filled with nectar ensuring a feast for birds with long and straight beaks. The parrot...
Bhubaneswar roads are jam-packed today – people making the most of a chhutti day to indulge in frenzied shopping for Saraswati Puja!! Pantaloons in Sahid Nagar is choked and gasping while Big Bazar and Bazaar Kolkata are spilling out! Its as...
The Ananta Vasudeva temple in Bhubaneswar was built in the 13th Century AD. It is stated in an epigraph that a temple was built for ShriKrishna & Balarama on the bank of the Bindu Sarovar tank by Chandrikadevi, daughter of Raja Ananga –...
AAMBA: ( Mango ) (Mangifera indica) Family: Anacardiaceae Sanskrit name: Amra Hindi name: Aam Our fairest one, Beauty of the garden, O finest fruit Of Hindustan. ~ Moghul Emperor Babur, Babur-namah (1525) Boy, cut these mangoes and prepare them in...
She rocked the echeleons of power in an exemplary manner. She represents the quiet power of womanhood. She is the person who gave a make over to the capital city and brought about a semblance of discipline and orderliness to the chaos in Bhubaneswar...
A fox who lived in the deep forest of long ago had lost its front legs. No one knew how: perhaps while escaping from a trap. A man who lived on the edge of the forest , seeing the fox from time to time, wondered how in the world it managed to get...
