Skip to main content

Featured Post

Odisha Part 7: The Rajarani Temple, Bhubaneshwar

The Rajarani Temple in Bhubaneshwar gets its name from the stone used to build it - the red and yellow sandstone used here is locally called Rajarani. This temple was once known as the Indreshwara temple, which is mentioned in the Ekamra Purana, which tells us about the temples of Bhubaneshwar, which was then known as Ekamra Kshetra. Today, the temple stands in a well-maintained lawn, and is the only ticketed monument within the city. The temple is built in the typical Kalinga style, with the tall curvilinear shikara over the garbagruha , and a jagamohana connected to it. The temple is believed to date back to the 11 th century, and is most well known for its sculptures. The entrance to the temple has two pillars with a Naga couple protecting the sanctum, holding garlands in their hands. The base of the pillar shows 3 lions standing over 3 elephants, a typical motif in temples of this region during this period. On the other side of the pillar is a horse and rider, and the two mo...
Post a Comment

The Final Golu for this year... and a performance...

The Fine Arts Society, Chembur is a hub of activity almost throughout the year. However, it is during Navaratri, that the place attracts even more crowds than usual.  The reason is of course, their music and fine arts classes, which begin on Vijayadasami, but even non-musical people like me rush there to see their golu, year after year.




This golu is one of our favourites, and one we rush to see every year, even though the main dolls are all the same.There are a few new ones every year...

Bhu-Varaha represented in two forms...

This one, being white, I am guessing is Shweta Varahaswamy

and there are always some which we love to see... again and again and again!

On top are the Ashta Lakshmis or 8 forms of Lakshmi.
below are Ganeshas, represented as the Dashavatars

Under the tree are Adi Shankara and his disciples. Behind them are the pontiffs of the Kanchi Math


A Garden, with animals

We always love their Marapachis!

Vithala Rakumai look beautiful, dont they? 

Ganesha

Ayyappa

Great Souls - Gandhiji,  Buddha, Thiruvalluar, Tyagarjar, Raghavendrar, and Meera






Dhanvantari, with his medicinal plants spread out

But it is the side decoration that beckons us. This year, the theme is the Ramayana, and the entire epic has been recreated with handmade dolls.

Birth of Rama (and his brothers)


Sita's Swayamvar

with Sita and her sisters looking on



In the forest - Bharata taking back Rama's Padukaas


Sita being kidnapped by Ravana, while Rama and Lakshmana go after the golden deer


Meeting Shabari


Sita in the Ashoka Vatika


Ravana's court


And finally, Rama's coronation


This year, I was at the Fine Arts Society for one more reason... to see my sister dance. As some of you know, she is a Bharatanatyam and Kathak dancer, and performs at various places with her group from the Sanskriti Academy of Fine Arts, Thane, under the inspired guidance of Smt. Asha Sunilkumar. This year, I am proud to say that I believe she surpassed herself, with a performance that had everyone stand up and notice her. Of course, the entire troupe performed beautifully, but with my sister on stage, can I have eyes for anyone else? Here are a few glimpses of her expressive face....






You can see the entire album of photographs on Facebook....here

and on Google Plus Photos... here.

And those of you who are going to ask me why I didn't take a video, sorry, but my camera was running low on battery, and I didn't want to risk missing part of the performance. Besides, I don't really think I am good at videography, but I promise to at least try next time!
Labels:
Location: The Fine Arts Society, The Fine Arts Society, Fine Arts Cultural Centre, Fine Arts Chowk, R. C. Marg, Chembur, Mumbai -, Ramakrishna Chemburkar Marg, Chembur Gaothan, Chembur, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400071, India

Comments

  1. Meghana HassanOctober 14, 2013 at 3:21 AM

    Great series on golu and your sister's performance. Dhanvantri along with medical herbs, reminded me of the golu theme last year at your mom's place.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ranjana's craft blogOctober 15, 2013 at 10:38 AM

    Loved that Ramayana series

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarOctober 15, 2013 at 7:34 PM

      Yes, Ranjana! that was really wonderful! we loved it too!

      Delete
  3. AayuOctober 18, 2013 at 1:48 AM

    http://tinyurl.com/workid/?id=Aayu

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please leave a comment for me so that I will know you have been here....

Popular posts from this blog

Gokarna Part II – The Five Lingams

We continued our Gokarna trip by visiting four other Shiva temples in the vicinity, all connected to the same story of Gokarna. The story of Gokarna mentions the Mahabaleshwara Lingam as the one brought from Kailas by Ravana, and kept at this place on the ground by Ganesha. (See my earlier post- Gokarna – Pilgrimage and Pleasure). However, the story does not end here. It is believed that, in his anger, Ravana flung aside the materials which covered the lingam- the casket, its lid, the string around the lingam, and the cloth covering it. All these items became lingams as soon as they touched the ground. These four lingams, along with the main Mahabaleshwara lingam are collectively called the ‘ Panchalingams’ . These are: Mahabaleshwara – the main lingam Sajjeshwar – the casket carrying the lingam. This temple is about 35 Kms from Karwar, and is a 2 hour drive from Gokarna. Dhareshwar – the string covering the lingam. This temple is on NH17, about 45 Kms south of Gokarna. Gunavanteshw...
10 comments
Read more

Newasa - Encountering an unique form of Vishnu, and Sant Jnaneshwar

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...
9 comments
Read more

Review of Executive Lounges at New Delhi Railway Station (NDLS)

During my recent trip to Uttarakhand , I was faced with a problem I had never encountered before. We were passing through Delhi, but we had hardly any time in the city. On earlier visits when I have had to change trains/flights at Delhi, I have always arrived in the morning and left again at night, visiting relatives in between. This time, I was arriving in the city at night, and leaving again early in the morning. There was hardly any time to visit people. I would only have a couple of hours with them before I’d have to leave again. For the first time, we considered booking a hotel, but there again, we were hesitant about the actual hotels, the costs involved, and the logistics of getting from the airport to the railway station and then back again from the station to the airport.  That’s when we remembered reading something about a corporate-managed lounge at Delhi station. We soon figured out that we could book online and pay by the hour. Besides, we also learnt that there wasn’...
2 comments
Read more