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Odisha Part 8: The Parasurameshwara Temple, Bhubaneshwar

The Parasurameshwara temple is one of the oldest temples in Bhubaneshwar, dating back to the early 8 th century CE. It is also one of the more intriguing temples, with a wide variety of very interesting sculptures. This temple has been attributed to the Shailodbhavas , who were Shaivites. The dynasty is named for their founder, Shailodbhava, who is said to have emerged from a rock, by the grace of Lord Shiva, in response to a prayer by a man from Kalinga, to create a man capable of ruling the earth. That this temple is dedicated to Shiva is clear, not only from the Shaiva dwarapalas who guard the entrance, but also from the numerous sculptures depicting Shiva in his many forms. However, what makes this temple very interesting is the presence of multiple images of the goddesses, especially the Saptamatrikas. The presence of different forms of the goddess, a panel depicting the marriage of Shiva and Parvati, as well as an image of Ardhanareeshwara suggest a strong Shakta influence o...
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Vijaya Dasami 2009

After the nine nights and days of navaratri, the festival culminated with Dusshera, or Vijaya Dashami. For us, the highlight of the day was our visit to the Fine Arts Society, Chembur for Guru Vandana and Vidyarambham – where we pay our respects to our teacher and begin a new year of musical education, or rather, Samhith does, progressing from the junior music level to senior this year…..

I complete this series of festival blogs with my photographs of the Fine Arts Kolu, one of the best in this area….

Here is the main Kolu..






This is the side decoration – this time, Tirupati, with a cave underneath…. I couldn’t get more details about this since everyone was tied up with the Vijaya Dashami celebrations…..

















Here are some detailed shots of the dolls….






















Well, thats all for this year, folks.... Shall be back with something new... till, then, keep reading my blog and suggest topics for me to write about!!!!


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Comments

  1. DollySeptember 29, 2009 at 12:53 PM

    Your pictures are beautiful, and thank you for sharing your Navaratri with us. Days have flown by so quick. Did you go to see burning of the Ravan ceremony?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anuradha ShankarSeptember 29, 2009 at 12:58 PM

    @ Lost Wanderer : THanks a lot.. its been a pleasure...
    No, I wasnt able to go for the ramleela. since i was home waiting for some last-day visitors...
    this year, wasnt even able to take in the Durga Puja, since had to be at home,,,

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  3. A journey called LifeSeptember 29, 2009 at 4:04 PM

    wow .. nice grand finale to a very interesting and nice series.. ur insipiring

    ReplyDelete
  4. MridulaSeptember 29, 2009 at 8:26 PM

    Just an extensive and beautiful arrangement. Hope your son had a lot of fun.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anuradha ShankarSeptember 29, 2009 at 10:02 PM

    @ A journey called Life : Thanks a lot..... had a wonderful time sharing all that i saw around me..

    @ Mridula : yes, samhith really enjoyed himself..... especially noticing which were the new ones and what we could do next time!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. SoulSpaceSeptember 30, 2009 at 7:21 AM

    I enjoy the passion yu bring to your writing and how yu present it to your readers, it comes directly from yr soul..thanks...and thanks for leaving comments on my blog too...
    BTw..I am learning a lot from yr blogs..am trying to emulate it..hahah

    ReplyDelete
  7. chitraSeptember 30, 2009 at 8:58 PM

    Good pictures there Anu. Hope you and son enjoyed nav. well

    ReplyDelete
  8. sriOctober 1, 2009 at 1:15 PM

    You did best by writing about so many things about golu, decorations and wonderful pictures you have taken all along! 10 days of hard work, plus blog writing must have tired u down! Kudos anu! my wishes to everyone at ur famil and special wishes to samhith as he would get a day off on vijayadasami from reading :)

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