TEMPLES EXTRA-ORDINARY : OUR VISIT TO TEMPLES OF ORISSA -PART V

IN THE TOWN OF TEMPLES : 

 A FORGOTTEN TEMPLE : SWARNAJALESWAR

SwarnaJaleswar temple . 

A portion of the  wall around the tiny court-yard is seen as well as the  empty ground from where  some photography is possible.

This temple will not be in the list of regular tourists cris-crossing Bhubaneswar. It does appear   in the list of temples of this town -  but it does not at all figure among the  well-known ones. I could not trace one photo of this temple in the Internet ! Well -  Internet  dates this temple to 7th century AD , mentions its resemblance to that of Parasuramaswar temple and added that Kotitirtheswar temple is in its neighbourhood. Someone told me while I was planning my trip to Bhubaneswar that it is best approached through a narrow lane opposite to  Parasuramaswar temple - a tenacious auto-rickshaw driver did take us to the right spot through a winding lane and not without several misses. You must not quite believe the simplicity of ' Bhubaneswar Heritage Walk : Route 2' of http://www.orissatourism.gov.in/heritagewalk.htm.

 Fragment of a beautiful 'Mithuna Murti' . 

One of the finest amorous couple in my collection.

This temple's height would be that of Parasuramaswar temple, but there is no Jagmohana here. Maintenance must have been much worse than that of Parasuramaswar temple. It must have been neglected for quite a  long stretch . Now, with reconstruction, some of the wall-reliefs are noticeable to the occasional visitors. It is tucked away in a court-yard beyond a cluster of houses and photography of at least two sides is possible from a large empty ground on the side of the court-yard, in spite a tree in the vicinity. If a large building comes up in this large tract of land, this temple will be hidden from public view for ever.

 

 Wall-relief of Ganesha and the smaller version on  its top (above). 

A bowl of fruits in front of the stool makes it interesting.

Pious  persons are both on the top and central depictions  

may be the ones who built this temple.

 I found a wall-relief of Ganesha , badly mutilated, sitting on a pedestal with lions as its legs . There is another small Ganesha, quite intact, just above the head of this mutilated one. I found a bust of a Nagdevata too - much like the one I found  @ the main temple of SriMukhalingam. I have noted  Nagdevata is a regular feature of  Orissa temples, but often without the status of a  'Parshadevata'.

 NagaDevata

The  broken and damaged wall-reliefs in the front of the temple are the ones which  deserve special mention.There is a wonderful Nataraja here - most of it is lost - but  one can imagine how beautiful it was when intact. Nataraja is in tribhanga posture. Only a small part of the 'dola hasta'  rsurvived the vandals and ravage of time. It has similarity  with the 10-handed Nataraja above the Jagomohana of Parasurameswar temple , but more attractive . The influence is evident from the headless person playing drum in the left-hand corner.

  Nataraja exquisite. Ithyphallic ,with his head tilting towards left, 

finely chiseled face,eyes and matted hair. 

We see a small portion of Siva's 'dola hasta' and 

 delicately crafted fingers and nails ! 

The simple waist-band and the hangings  and index finger touching  his own left thigh create an irresistible image.

 I have taken  some more photos which include a three-headed manifestation of Siva, several grotesque figures - human and animals, a four-armed god in 'yogasana', a two-armed 'Nataraja' or a dancer in the centre of a 'Bho' during reconstruction. Strangely, during reconstruction, someone has put the mutilated figures of  a 3-persons amorous scene in two parts - one part each at two ends ( !) , only a pot-bellied short character intact. More such examples can be a subject of academic discussion, but what is intriguing is a 'Uma-Maheswar' reconstructed in such a manner that it becomes an interesting  subject of discussion.

 A jigsaw puzzle  for all of us . 

1 - Siva or Sivani with a trident in his/her right-arm, question - relevant in this depiction , 

2a - Siva/'Maheswar's face, 2 - part of his body,

3 - Uma's left arm, 3a -Uma's right leg,

 4 - Ganesha, 5 -bull, 6 - Lion, 7 - a 'yogini',8 - a very fine and intact 'Bhringee'. There are many more figures in this wall-relief.

I invite readers of this blog, trained in Photoshop, to reconstruct this panel. My very 1st attempt is here :

TEMPLES EXTRA-ORDINARY : OUR VISIT TO TEMPLES OF ORISSA - PART IV

IN THE TOWN OF TEMPLES : VAITAL TEMPLE 

 The famous eight-armed MahishasuraMardini on  northern wall of 

Vaital temple.

Vaital temple  is known for its association with performers of 'tantrik' rites. Some bloggers have written about the eerie  atmosphere inside - specially  with a fearsome idol of its presiding  deity 'Camunda' and idols of Bhairavas inside the temple. Unfortunately, entrance to the temple was closed when we reached there because we were there at around 2.30 pm. I knew that the priest opposes any any attempt to take photos inside the temple - still, I am quite disappointed that  an opportunity was missed.

 Vaital temple  and Sisireswar temple.

8th century temples with several unique features.

I found a photo of Vaital temple's Camunda  in a blog where the writer has used a photo  sourced from IGNCA. I  noted the deity is covered with a saree and garland - in my opinion, the  deity found in Jajpur is fiercest among the few photos published in Internet.  Camunda of  '64 Yoginis' temple' @ nearby Hirapur village is also fearsome , but the effect  is lost partly  because it has been defaced and partly because it is in open, not  enshrined in semi-dark sanctum !

 Camunda  - goddess with her emaciated body and fierce posture - 

of   '64 Yoginis' temple' @ nearby Hirapur village

 Vaital  and Sisireshwar temples are adjacent to each other  and enclosed within an irregular compound wall. It is unfortunate that this  small complex  is so tight in space that photography around Sisireswar  temple is impossible. Only south side of this 8th century temple, said to be built in  same architectural form  as that of Parashurameswar temple , is accessible to photographers !  Rich carvings of this wall is a delight to watch. It is unfortunate that a green sprawling site that ASI has developed for RajaRani temple is not possible here, not even one like Parashurameswar temple.

 View of the southern facade of  Sisireswar temple. Richly carved, 

it contains remarkable wall-reliefs of Ganesha and Lakulisha.

11.6m tall Vaital temple is unique in many respects . It has a  semi-cylindrical roof - known as  'khakhara' - which can be compared with an inverted boat  or a Gopuram of Southern temple architecture. Nataraja-Surya  combination on the wall above the Jagmohana is unique - the details  themselves deserve a separate blog !Also unique are the wall-reliefs of  6-armed 'MahishaMardini'  , 4-armed Shivani and Uma-Maheswar . I found a 'ArdhaNareeswar' on Vaital temple's wall which I did not come across anywhere else @ Bhuvaneswar.

 

Huge wall-relief above the Jagmohana of Vaital temple. On top, 

8-armed ithyphallic Nataraja ,Devi on his left, Nandi staring upwards. 

Below, Surya  on his 7-horses chariot with his 2 consorts.

Mythical animals including Capricorns,elephants, hermits, amorous couples and others adorn this wonderful wall-relief.

 A very well-known Uma-Maheswara wall-relief.

Siva ithyphallic 4-armed, with a round object in his lower right hand.

Parvati sitting close to him - not on his left thigh. Both the postures are comparable to a similar wall-relief of Parashurameswar temple.

Some of the stories  on the walls  remained a puzzle to me. One of them is here , where we find hermits engaged with women, at least two among whom are equipped with arms !

TEMPLES EXTRA-ORDINARY : OUR VISIT TO TEMPLES OF ORISSA - PART -III

CELEBRATION OF 'KAMA' - LOVE - FROZEN IN STONE - III

(PHOTOS FROM MY DIARY OF TEMPLE VISITS
IN FEBRUARY,2012 - I)

NOTE OF WARNING -  Those who are below 18 years  OR dislike discussions on 'erotic' work of art in Hindu temples are requested to stay away from this Blog.

Her eyes closed with pleasure,

her lips open for breath, 

her breast pressing his - 

  'KAMA' Eternal -  frozen in stone.

Mithuna-murti,

Swarna Jaleswar temple, Bhubaneswar.

Writing , and more importantly, publishing photos on erotic wall-reliefs of  temples of Bhubaneswar as well as Sun-temple of Konark is a delicate job. The 'creators' of these wall-reliefs and sculpture were very clear  in their intention and very explicit in depiction. The range of  emotions that play between a man and woman when engulfed by 'kama' has been put on the walls of these temples  is immense ! It is upto us , viewers of 21st century to decide which ones  are refined and which ones are to be labelled vulgar.

The  Arousal - Moments of the 'Eros' 

Raja-Rani temple, Bhubaneswar

The  Arousal - Moments of the 'Eros' 

Brahmeswar temple, Bhubaneswar

Is there an uneasiness over the 'erotic' sculptures among the people who manage the famous temples of Bhubaneswar ?  Strange that photography  is not allowed in certain temples which have no uncommon 'erotic' sculpture compared to those in Sun temple @ Konark or the famous ones @ Khajuraho. This inexplicable attitude  deny world viewers of the exquisite 'mithunamurti' of Lingaraja temple or  'Muralidhar' of Puri temple !

Dance of 'KAMA'

Raja-Rani temple, Bhubaneswar

It is clear to all of us who have visited India's temples, viewed collections of paintings in our museums, gone through  coffee table books and internet sites on Indian temple art , the attitude towards dress-code and act of coitus during the past two millenniums was far different from that of present day. I recollect when I was young, a group of pilgrims from my family whom I accompanied, skipped Konark from their itinerary because two of us among the group were  considered  too young to be exposed to the sexually-oriented wall-reliefs of this Sun temple. I believe that in 13th century AD, no such filtration was in practice. Were young and adult-members of the same family admiring the wall-relief below at the same time ?

 Woman reaches below man's dress  & seeks out his  phallus . 
He reciprocates by fondling woman's breast.

'Nagas' and other women around this couple stay aloof !!

Many  scholars have viewed and presented the erotic art of Indian temples  in ways more than one. I have gone through some of them, but, here I share a view of my observations.

 A few wall-reliefs  tell the viewer  of a moment of closeness - attraction, aversion as well as ecstasy. The rainbow of emotions and their manifestations in the body language !Yet others tell a stories through a series.Here are a few examples , but, not a whole series !  Quite a few of the 'stories' are difficult one - I have not mentioned the names of the temples to avoid controversy. And ... I  avoided posting photos of  wall-reliefs where just copulation has been depicted.

Man with matted hair - 'starving' pilgrimage-returned  -

forces woman  clinging to her child into submission  !

 At the end, I shall repeat what I said in another blog - the leaders of the then society believed that the subjects of the state must multiply - they did not guess one day India would groan under 120 crores population. The temples gave them impetus for engaging into the process of  creation.

Ecstasy & (Pro)creation

Man supports  woman on his palms and stays engaged in a near-impossible pelvic posture below the Tree of Life

Wall-sculpture,Konark temple (illuminated in the evening)

I believe a photofeature  has a limit - lots of text and photos make a blog heavy and perhaps uninteresting.Therefore,  i shall continue this writing on this subject in another blog, but, would like to write on Baital temple before the next part on erotic art.

THE MAJESTIC SUN-TEMPLE OF KONARK - 1

THE BIGGEST 'CHARIOT' ON THE EARTH - 1

Firmly bricked in the earth 

Stands the mould, fired from clay. 

Today the bell shall be. 

Quickly, workers, be at hand. 

   From the forehead hot 

   The sweat must run, 

If the creation shall praise the master,

But the blessing comes from on-high.

                                                     - Song of the Bell, 

                                                            Friedrich von Schiller

( May I request the viewer to kindly click on the photo of the chariot and view it full-size to appreciate the spread of the chariot, a fraction of which is captured here.)

Front-side of Sun-temple.

We can see 3 of the 12 pairs of wheels which drive the god's chariot.

Among the 4 horses in this side,  hardly 2 remain.

( far right-hand top of this photo)

Is this how the Sun temple complex look like ?

Source - ASI Museum,Konark.

We have visited Konark's Sun temple twice earlier  - this visit in February, 2012 brought glimpses of  inner character of this temple to the fore. Looking back, it seems that we did not spend enough time earlier in this temple. During this visit, we  walked into the  compound before the scheduled sunrise hour when a pail of mist was hanging on the top of the Jagamohan ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/cshyamal/6900022783) . After a couple of hours, sun light kissed the temple and we continued here till the mid-day, clicking to our hearts' content. We returned before the sunset and went around , climbed up and down till we were exhausted. The huge Jagomohan, lit up with amber and blue lights, appeared  to be hanging from darkness of the the sky .

  128' high Jagomohan rises beyond the roofless Bhoga-Mandapa.

Who is the rider of this lion trampling an elephant ?

 Is he the 'Langula' King ?

We did not go to Konark very well-prepared  - that was a mistake. But, we visited the local Museum which we did not cover in our earlier visits.Thus, it was one mistake less.I would say our experience and photos and my subsequent browsing helped me to love this majestic piece of architecture a lot more than earlier times. I mostly keep out my own emotion out of the text of my blogs - but not in this one.

 'Poosha' - morning Sun, as viewed from the ground level.  

This chlorite statue adorns the east-wall of the broken deul.

ASI  has placed the statue in such a way that a full view 
is impossible from any level.(*2)

 The first impact is that of its enormity . What remains of this  majestic structure is amazing. Konark's deul, which has been lost  was taller than the tallest of the 'Gopurams' of Meenakshi temple, Madurai,more than double of Chittorgarh's Vijayastambha and less than 10' shorter than its  another near-contemporary   world-famous  Indian architecture - Qutab Minar.(*1)

Mythical elephant with lion's claws tramples a soldier 

equipped with a shield and sword !

Though   Sun temple of Konark draw a lot of attention for its erotic wall-reliefs, what impressed me most among the wall-reliefs and sculptures are the war stallions and the elephants.  I was impressed by these sculptures during my earlier visits too.  I read a comparison between these war stallions and that of  the statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni. The war stallion of  Colleoni  (Venice, Italy) is famous , but apart from the  exposure, in artistic merit, are not the stallions of Konark   superior to that of  Colleni's statue ?

   Awe-inspiring  heavily decorated war stallion.

Surely a dear one of the Monarch among the prized collection  

of Kalinga kingdom.

When king Langula Narasimhadeva I  planned this temple , he had quite a few points in his mind .First is its enormity - both height and size - his temple had to be among the tallest among the existing monuments.   An interesting calculation would be estimate cubic feet of stones used  in various monuments and compare. Well - I find no such data available. Secondly, he conveyed a message  to Buddhists through lions overpowering elephants. Was his enormous wheels of Sun's chariot a score over Ashoka's 'Dharmachakra' ?

 The Divine Wheel of Time - 'Kaal Chakra' - rolls among the daily activities - procreation,survival and annihilation - of  human society.

The third point  - in my opinion - was his message to his subjects - they must multiply to tackle the military pressure against Kalinga. Kalinga had suffered a huge population depletion at the hand of Ashoka. Thereafter, there was no peace. During the rule of King Anantavarman , the founder of  Ganga dynasty to which Narasimhadeva belonged, Kalinga suffered a huge thrashing from the Cholas though the royalties of these two states were closely related. Narasimhadeva I was engaged in battles with Muslims of Bengal. A famous religious leader allowed  menfolks among his followers to practice polygamy  and encouraged widows' marriage to tackle loss of able-bodied male members of the society. I wonder if the King of Kalinga encouraged  his subjects   to be more sexually active with propagation and multiplication  in mind! Here, the message was not only to young,virile  and family-men , but also to those were not so  young and those who were out traditional family set-up.

Dance of life

A  beautiful pillar of Bhoga- Mandapa

 I shall continue my presentation on Sun temple of Konark in coming blogs. The chronicle of royal life,  deities, dancers  and musicians , mythical animals and the 'grotesque' and 'acts of love'  - I would like to share the memories we have brought with us.

NOTES :
1. Sun temple : Height - 229'. Completion  around 1253-60 AD,
Qutub Minar - Height - 237.8'. Commencement   around 1194 AD, repaired by Firoz Shah Tughlaq (1351-88 AD) and Sikandar Lodi ( 1489-1517 AD).
2.  Among all the idols discovered from this temple site, 3 - all of Sun god - have  been retained. Rest are in Delhi. There are conflicting claims regarding the  main idol . But, it is confirmed that these sculptures were placed originally on the side-walls of the deul.

TEMPLES EXTRA-ORDINARY : OUR VISIT TO TEMPLES OF ORISSA - PART -III

 SCRAPS FROM MY TRAVEL DIARY -1

 Jump with joy!

Sea-beach,Puri.

 No visitor to Bhubaneswar with a camera will miss this spot !

On the right, a stair-case goes upto the platform which allows a view of

Lingaraj temple and its court-yard. 

Photography of the temples inside is allowed only from this platform !

The door ahead to the temple complex is closed to movement.

I am motivated now by two comments I read in a gap of two days :

• A young  bro-in-law of mine posted a clutch of  excellent photographs in FB after a  trip to Jodhpur/Jaisalmer. One of his ' commented : 'ariiiiii....manush kothai???' That 'Oh .... why not a soul in your photos ??'
• In a string of e-mail, one friend of mine has asked another : 'Have not you taken photos of your train-journey, scenery from train's window, tea-shops etc ?' 

 

 Four young men were hooked to a 'naughty' wall-relief @ Konark temple. 

As I focused my camera, two of this group moved away while 

the other two were too engrossed to notice me. 

Anyone is curious about this wall-relief being 'captured' in a phone-camera ?

 

Earlier, I have not ever thought that in a trip to cover wonders of our architecture , I need add to my folio photos of the passing scenery. Ruby, if she accompanied me and had a loaded camera handy, would 'fire' away during journeys. During writing or internal presentations,I have often used  photos from her albums which had another perspective.

 A small temple built in the water-body opposite the compound dedicated to 64-Yoginis temple.

Do you notice the small black bird resting atop the same ?

Hirapur ( near Bhubaneswar) , Orissa. 

Mothers and daughters.

Udaygiri, Bhubaneswar.

Gradually, I have also learnt to pick-up a few scenes while focusing on wall-reliefs.Here, I have selected six photos  from my Orissa trip - none of a temple per se -  to put my record straight.

Amidst the beauties in stone @ Konark temple.

 Fat torsos, slim legs - Does this photographer ( face blurred ) have a choice ?

 

TEMPLES EXTRA-ORDINARY : OUR VISIT TO TEMPLES OF ORISSA - PART -II

IN THE TOWN OF TEMPLES : PARASURAMESWAR TEMPLE

 Parasurameswar temple. 7th century AD.

 Bhubaneswar is a temple- town. Most of the temples are devoted to Siva.It is not him in 'samhara-murthy' - the divine annihilator - whom we find  here at Bhubaneswar. We see him as the divine source of energy of creation, symbolised by his 'linga' piercing the 'yonipatta'. Those who study temple architecture of India believe that Orissan temples' shape  has been developed imitating the shape of 'Siva Linga'  ++.

 'Koti Lingam', North court-yard,Parasurameswar temple.

Said to have 1001 'lingam' inscribed on the shaft.

Saivites of India  have evolved from sub-sects spread across this vast country through centuries and are of  much diverse origins than the followers of other Vedic gods Simply stated, Siva had his worshipers among various communities of  non-Aryans . Numerous tales of his deeds, which contribute to his characteristics and his imageries, have sources  across this vast country, recounted through the ages. Historians of Art have written pages about the same and will continue to do so. I submit here  in przmm.blogspot.com what I little I viewed through the lenses of my camera.

Eight-armed  Nataraja . Ithyphallic.

Partly damaged lower portion depicts torso of Bhringee

and legs of Nandi.

 To appreciate  the iconography of Parasurameswar temple, it is relevant to  understand the  timeline  of Saiva architecture of the centuries of 1st millennium AD * :

• Virupaksha temple, Pattadakal was constructed by Queen Lokamahadevi in 745 AD.
• Kailashanatha temple , Ellora caves was  started by King  Krishna I of Rastrakuta dynasty - his rule was between 757 - 773 AD.
•  Mamallapuram - developed during 7th century AD.
• Parasurameswar temple -  developed during 7th century AD.

 These years are important to understand  what I shall state in the next two paragraphs.

 Parvati embraces Siva as Ravana shakes Kailash.

Unperturbed Siva's right-hand is in 'Abhaya mudra'.

 Parasurameswar temple  is the oldest among the surviving temples of Bhubaneswar. Its style is remarkable. The temple faces the west, its Jagomohan has a second door which is south-facing , the  door to inner sanctum has 'Asta Graha'( Eight Planets) inscribed on it . The ninth planet - Ketu - made its appearance in later-day temples.North-west side of the temple's court-yard has a 'Koti Lingam'** installed.

A close-up of 'Siva-Parvati in Kailash'. Parvati sitting on 

left-thigh of Siva. Siva ithyphallic.

To me . more important is that this temple is iconography. On the western wall of its 'deul', just above the roof of 'Jagomohan', we see Ravana disturbing the union of Siva and Parvati @ Kailasa. There are Ganesa, Kartikeya, Bhringee and other characters around. Siva is unperturbed but Parvati is not. Now - if we refer to the timeline above, we shall find that 'Ravana lifting Kailasa' of Ellora and Pattadakal - so very well-known - have their predecessor here.

 Revelry of Siva  and his followers . 

Top row : Siva dancing. Lower row : Musicians among his followers.

Parvati getting ready for marriage

This temple's eastern wall has a big wall-relief of Kartikeya , on its top the scene of Siva's marriage, thus bringing in the memory of 'Kumarsambhamam' - 'Birth of Kumar (Kartikeya'), written by the famous poet of Gupta era, Kalidasa,  during 4th century AD. The 'energy of creation' - represented by union of Siva and Parvati -  manifests in  their embrace on the west wall and again on the southern wall , in their marriage scene  and Kartikeya on the eastern wall, in 'Koti Lingam' of the court-yard and the shape of the 'deul'.

 

Very elegant wall-relief of Kartikeya.

On the top band, marriage scene  of Siva and Parvati.

Surya and Brahma on right-side of Siva, 

while Himalaya and Menoka flank Parvati.

Parvati snugs close to Siva - ithyphallic.

 Their respective  mounts,bull and lion, are depicted in the wall-relief too.

 The 'Andhakasura' episode of Siva's mythology was prominent on the mind of  the Savite artists of this temple. We find Nataraja and Bhringee on the south and western walls, 'SaptaMatrika' on the Northern wall. There are other 'Parsa Devata' - gods depicted on the outer walls of the temple. But, significant are  : the marriage procession of Siva-Parvati on the west -face of Jagomohan and Siva - Annapurna on on the southern wall of 'deul'.I have not come across any Siva-Annapurna  during my visit to the temples of SriMukhalingam,Aihole and Pattadakal in February'2011 - I consider this wall-relief quite special.

Siva  holds out an empty pot to Annapurna.

NOTES on Sources : 
++1. A Bengali book on ''Mithuna' Iconography by Late Narayan Sanyal

* 2. Quoted from WIKIPEDIA.
**3. 'KOTI LINGAM' -  Literal meaning  - 10 million 'Lingam'. I have been told by the priest of this temple that there are 1001 'lingam' inscribed. According to a source, stones with Buddhist inscriptions have been converted to 'Koti Lingam'. This is, however, is an unverified staement and not meant to offend any religious sentiment.
I have seen another 'KOTI LINGAM' shaft @ Mahakuta (    near Badami) , Karnataka.

TEMPLES EXTRA-ORDINARY : OUR VISIT TO TEMPLES OF ORISSA - PART -I

BHUBANESWAR/KONARK/PURI - PART - I

Lingaraj temple of Bhubaneswar.

A magnificent temple - now standing in a cluttered court-yard, instead

of a sprawling green environment like the Sun temple,Konark.

Strict imposition of 'No camera inside the complex' rule on the visitors deprive outsiders  a taste of excellent wall-reliefs n display.

This is a visit Ruby and I were looking forward to for quite a while. In November,11, we were mentally ready to make the trip. But, unavoidable family circumstances  kept us held up in Calcutta . Earlier also, we  found it is convenient to make a short trip in February - the weather is kind, it is neither so cold that woolens are to be carried nor one does not sweat while moving around for sight-seeing and  outdoor photography.  This particular Orissa trip  we planned  with photography in temples of  Bhubaneswar and Konark in mind as well as enjoying the sea coasts  @ Konark and Puri.

 RajaRani temple, stands out as the most elegant and beautiful 

among those at Bhubaneswar

We had quite an enjoyable trip. By and large, our compact  four-days programme  worked well. We were at Bhubaneswar for two days, 2nights and one day at Konark and spent  a few hours at Puri on the 4th day to pay a visit to temple of JagannathDev and sea beach.

The accommodation at both Bhubaneswar and Konark was good. Except for at one temple - Megheswar @ Bhubaneswar - 'panda'/priests did not harass us. We had several disappointments though. At Konark, we could not enjoy a sunrise. But, Konark temple enveloped in morning mist was a rare visual treat. Secondly at Puri temple, we had to remain content with glimpse of JagannathDev from a distance as all the three deities were to have a 'bath'. But, I could see young and not-so-young sweating devotees running along a corridor, carrying caskets of bath water  - never knew such a ritual exist !

Before I write a few paragraphs on  our visits to temples , a few general points ....

This auto-rickshaw took us around @ Bhubaneswar 

on 15th &  16th Feb.,'12.

 He would be unhappy even after we added a good tip on the exorbitant fare  he made us agree upon.

One remarkable feature of the Tourism department of Orissa is the excellent  repertoire of Travel literature they have developed to attract and assist tourists. The publication on Konark temple , Buddhist/Jain shrines and 'stupas', detailed map are amazing. OTDC  has developed a good network of Hotels . We could not have enjoyed our one-and-half days' stay @ Konark but for Yatrinibas.

 Yatrinibas, Konark.

 What we did not like is  general attitude of extracting money from tourists - through formation of cartels of taxis and auto-rickshaws as well as other service providers.Last year, when @ Hampi, I asked an auto-rickshaw driver  as to why the cost of a ride was so high there. He explained -  long no-tourist/small income season. It is not applicable to Puri and Bhubaneswar  - these places enjoy tourist inflow throughout the year. I found travel cost unjustifiably high. Public administration does not provide support to tourists through modest, clean and efficient point-to-point transfers.

  Beautiful 'Torana' ( arch) in front of Mukteswar temple

 The temples we visited @ Bhubaneswar, Hirapur, Konark and Puri are extra-ordinary in architecture as well as iconography. A discerning visitor will appreciate the depth of planning and meticulous 'execution' which attract  thousands of visitors through centuries to these places - not only for pilgrimage, but to savour  the wonders standing tall for centuries.

 Entrance to Udaygiri caves

RajaRani temple is the most beautiful one among those we visited at Bhubaneswar . Lingaraj temple is the magnificent one. Brahmeswar,Vaital,Mukteswar and very significantly ,'64 Yoginis' as well as Parasurameshwar temples are delight of students of Iconography like me. We also visited Sisireswar, Megheswar,Swarnajaleswar, Siddheswar temples.

 Konark temple,mystified by morning mist

February,2012

Next was the Sun temple at Konark - the most awe-inspiring temple in Orissa. It is said that had this temple been discovered before TajMahal during the British rule, Konark temple would have been considered one of the seven wonders of the World ! Whether or not  such a claim is proper, Konark temple overwhelms visitors with its design and details inspite of the broken deul and many scars. ASI has done a great job in developing the area around with well-manicured lawn and excellent 2-tone lighting. I enquired with the ticket counter and found during the peak season of November/December, upto 6500 visitors  throng to this temple in a day !!

More about the details in future blogs.