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Odisha Part 9 : The Vaital Temple, Bhubaneshwar

The Vaital temple is of the many intriguing temples in Bhubaneshwar. To begin with, the structure itself resembles a South-Indian temple more than the typical Kalingan style that we see everywhere else in Odisha. The temple has been dated to the last quarter of the 8 th century CE. Further , unlike most of the temples in Bhubaneshwar, this temple is not dedicated to Lord Shiva. Inside the sanctum is one of the deities who is very rarely seen in a sanctum – Chamunda, along with the Saptamatrikas. This is evidently a Shakta shrine. However, the presence of Lakulisha on the vimana indicates the connection with the Pasupata sect, which is most prevalent in this region during this time period. Further, the name of the temple – ‘Vaital’, comes from the word ‘ vetala’ , referring to spirits, which were invoked by tantrics to attain siddhis. Thus, this temple is an amalgamation of Pasupata and Shakta philosophy, with a strong emphasis on tantric rituals, and this is reflected in the iconogra...
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Award time!


Thanks, AJCL, for the award! Like you, I too shall avoid the tag and simply accept the award.... just pass it on to others.... so here goes...

Bhavesh - your photographs bring a smile to my face everyday
Ssstoryteller - I look forward to the interesting things you come up with
Aarti - you make even the most normal things seem so interesting
Patricia - I just cant get enough of your wonderful decor ideas.... while I cant even imagine re-creating them!
Shilpa - i just loved your response to the last tag...so you get this one...

Comments

  1. ShilpaApril 13, 2010 at 12:18 PM

    Hey Anu thanks a ton.. this is my first blog award. I was having a bad day at office and you really cheered me up :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. IndraniApril 13, 2010 at 1:06 PM

    CONGRATULATIONS to all winners!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. SoulSpaceApril 13, 2010 at 3:24 PM

    hey Thanks
    and send it right back to yu

    ReplyDelete
  4. chitraApril 13, 2010 at 8:35 PM

    Anu,
    congrats!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. AartiApril 15, 2010 at 5:28 PM

    Awwww... Thats so sweet! Thanks lady :))

    ReplyDelete
  6. Bhavesh ChhatbarApril 19, 2010 at 2:08 PM

    Hi Anu,

    So sorry for being so late on this one, but I have now published the award on Beautiful Blogger Award. Thanks so much, Anu! :)

    ReplyDelete

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