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Odisha Part 5: Two less visited temples

My quest for ancient temples often takes me to hidden corners of the country, often less visited by regular tourists. More often than not, my drivers are completely unaware of these temples, and we often get lost looking for them, despite the ease that Google Maps has provided. On my recent visit to Odisha, I had only two such less visited temples on my list – the Varahi temple at Chaurasi, and the Gangeshwari temple. I had heard and read about the Varahi temple at Chaurasi , and was eager to go see her. The form of Varahi has always fascinated me, and this particular temple was said to have an exceptionally beautiful idol of the deity. Persuading my driver wasn’t an easy feat – he was reluctant (to say the least) about going in search of temples he had never heard of, but my persistence paid off. The Varahi Temple at Chaurasi The Varahi temple dates back to the 9 th century, and the architecture is unusual, as compared to the other temples of Odisha. The temple is closest in st...
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Our favourite Ganesha this year

This one certainly has to be the best one we have seen so far... not the Ganesha, the decoration, of course!! I am talking about the Ganpati at Chembur Station.

The Ganesha himself is rather nice....


.... and the decoration is based on Mumbai roads.....



Of course, not the potholed roads of reality, but the smooth and traffic-less roads we dream will be a reality someday....

But the main attraction here is the Monorail.... which is right now making life for us miserable, with all the roads being dug up, but which will hopefully bring some respite for us when it is finally ready in the distant future....
As of now, the model of this monorail runs smoothly to and fro, thrilling each and every visitor to this Pandal...


Samhith insisted on staying put till the Monorail made a couple of journeys to and fro, leaving only when a huge crowd entered, and the attendant politely asked us to leave!!! But at least now he knows what the monorail will look like!!!

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Location: Chembur, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Comments

  1. UshaSeptember 18, 2010 at 11:28 AM

    I remember the conversation with him about the monorail; this was in an auto on our way back to the building from his music class. And I remember thinking how he is the only person I know in Mumbai who is looking at all the digging positively :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. chitraSeptember 18, 2010 at 3:55 PM

    I am sure Samhith would have liked to stay in pandal for long.. So fascinating it looks. .All these festivals fills the mind with happiness.

    ReplyDelete
  3. MridulaSeptember 18, 2010 at 10:26 PM

    I can see that Samhith would have been fascinated by the monorail!

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousSeptember 18, 2010 at 11:11 PM

    Oh lovely theme!! thats a gorgeous Ganesha!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anuradha ShankarSeptember 19, 2010 at 3:03 PM

    @Usha: Oh yes, i remember that conversation. he is still in favour of all that digging, but cant understand why they cant repair our road too... its much worse now... but he actually understood what the monorail would look like only when he saw it...

    @Chitra: oh yes... he would love to stay there all day long, but so would all the other kids too :) and some of these pandals are quite crowded, so they push us out after a while...

    @Mridula: oh, he's absolutely fascinated... cant wait for it!

    @Patty: oh yes, it certainly was the best one we have seen this year :)

    ReplyDelete

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