Deep in the thick undergrowth around KUMARI PARBATA are strewn thousands of broken rocks, probably waiting to tell their tales. And rummaging through the dark undergrowths among debris and decaying nature one day, I came face to face with a Sage. My childlike curiosity in such a strange place was enough to convey my awe of the mystic mountain. As if reading my thoughts the Sage said "befitting the name Gupta Giri, there are mysteries all-round- keep searching & keep finding", then on his way through the bushes he went leaving me wondering more about this KUMARI PARBATA which has reference to GUPTA GIRI (The secret/mysterious mountain) of the legends & epics. While History speak of 117 cave structures, legends speak of 752. While history dates it to the 2nd c.BC. legends date it far far beyond.

Thus sheer curiosity has caught on.

Interestingly around the 2nd C.BC. there pinnacled an era of all-round excellence and - the surface-remains speak volumes. Scriptures of this era mention of a period 300 years before. But mysteriously, just there after for almost 600 years, Kalinga was lost in oblivion. History slept while legends had field days.

Is it not very mystical ? Like the "MANNI".

But very unfortunately in our history books we find this store house of ancient Kalinga history relegated to the status of an obscure ruin built for the jain monks. Either lack of proper patronage in the wake of numerous heritage findings in better forms or .. sheer complacency is slowly but surely erasing away whatever is left of the once prosperous Kalinga era. Jain monks may have lived here at some time, but the entire super structure was built in many phases over a period of time for a much better, nobler and wider cause.