The year was 1290 . A crowd had gathered around a clearing, where broken down pillars marked the presence of an ancient temple, now long gone. A young boy, just 14 years old, leaned against one of those pillars, deep in thought. Then, he began speaking, and the crowd fell silent, listening to his every word. He spoke without any notes, translating the Bhagavat Gita, from Sanskrit, which only the pundits knew, to the language everyone in the village knew and spoke – a variety of Prakrit which developed into the Marathi language. Even as he spoke, one of the men in the audience realized how momentous this event was, and how important this composition would be. He began writing down the words the young boy spoke, and this composition was named by its author and composer, the Bhavartha Deepika – the enlightening meaning (of the Bhagavat Gita). Now, the ancient, holy text, was no longer restricted to the pundits, but accessible to all, understood easily by them, composed as it was, in their...
I have already written about the monuments and art of Orchha.
However, this series on Orchha will be incomplete without one post dedicated to
the Vultures of Orchha!
We saw these Vultures nesting on the cenotaphs. It seemed sort
of fitting, that birds which live off the dead, were nesting in monuments built
for the dead. And, at least to us, they were far more interesting than the
cenotaphs themselves!
From what I have been reading, it appears that there are 4
varieties of vultures here, but we only saw this one type, which seem to be
Indian Vultures.
Also, apparently, their numbers had drastically reduced due to
rampant use of diclofenac in cattle, but now the situation has improved, as we
could see for ourselves.
It has often happened that Samhith and I go to see a monument,
and get distracted by birds. This was no different, and yet, memorable, for we
have never seen so many vultures in one place, ever! It was quite a satisfying
end to our visit to Orchha.
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oh my, what cool captures... :) next time you plan a trip am definitely coming along.. promise to behave and be good..
ReplyDeleteThey are very interesting birds! We have turkey vultures here in South Carolina. I often see them riding the air currents as I drive around town.
ReplyDeleteOrchha is an amazing place of tourist interest and you have covered this place amazingly. Good read!
ReplyDeleteorchha is really a awesome place to visit such a wonderful place thanks for share
ReplyDeleteI am stunned with the monuments, vultures and art of Orchha, all are so interesting to see very nice trip you have shared thanks.
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