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Odisha Part 3 - Konark : The Surya Temple, through my eyes

Many years back, when I visited the National Museum in Delhi, one of the images that I was most impressed by, was the Surya from Konark. I remember being rooted to the ground as I stood in front of the sculpture, admiring every detail, simply unable to walk away. There are various ideas of where the sculpture was placed in the temple, but wherever it was placed, there is no question that it would have drawn all eyes. I remember wondering back then, if this single sculpture was so impressive, how much more impressive the temple would have been! The first thing that struck me about the Konark temple during my first visit, was its size. I have seen huge ancient temples before – the Brihadeeshwara temple and the Kandariya Mahadev temple, to name just two. However, Konark was something else. It was awe-inspiring to even think of just how much larger the original temple would have been, with its main spire intact. So many years later, on my second visit, the size was still impressive, bu...
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Hanuman Jayanti - the First Festival in the New Year

We hurried back from our vacation to be in time for Samhith's school, and found ourselves back on the day of the first festival of the year - Hanuman Jayanti, celebrating the birth of the monkey God Hanuman. Before some of you rise up and inform me that the festival is months away yet, here is a piece of information - this is one festival which is celebrated in different parts of the country on different days, the reason being the uncertainty of the day the monkey god was born! 

Visiting the temple to collect the prasad (offerings) of a puja we had arranged for, I found myself on time for the Lord to take his tour around the area. The temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu in his many forms, and He was just ready to start his tour, mounted on the shoulders of his greatest devotee, Hanuman. Here are a few pics, which aren't too clear, since I took them from my mobile camera, but you can get an idea of what its like!




Interestingly, the trip I just returned from turned out to be closely connected to Hanuman too. On our visit to Hampi, we also visited Anegundi, on the opposite bank of the river, which is believed to be the Kishkinda of Ramayana fame. I shall write in detail about Anegundi later, but here are just a few glimpses of the places related to Hanuman....

Anjanadri is believed to be the hillock on which the monkey god was born, and today, a temple dedicated to him stands over the hill. It is a relatively easy climb, with about 550 steps leading to the temple etched over the rock.




Incidentally, the entire region is covered by huge rocks of all shapes and sizes, which are believed to have been thrown by the childish Hanuman, or Anjaneya (son of Anjana) as He was then known. 



Hanuman is also seen in an interesting posture in this place. At many ancient temples, he is depicted in a sitting posture, holding in his hands palm leaf manuscrips representing the Vedas. This idol symbolises the mature phase of Hanuman, which he spent gaining knowledge by meditating on Lord Shiva, and then being educated by Surya, the Sun God. This is the only place which shows him thus. Here is one such idol from the Navabrindavanam at Anegundi, a place where nine great sages have their samadhis....


Thats all I am going to write right now......I hope I managed to get you interested enough to come back when I finally get to writing more in detail about Anegundi....
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Location: Anegondi, Karnataka, India

Comments

  1. TeamgsquareJanuary 5, 2011 at 12:12 PM

    Didn't Climb this when we were around becuase of time crunch but next time will sure do this also .

    ReplyDelete
  2. IndraniJanuary 5, 2011 at 5:13 PM

    I din't know about this festival.
    Great pics.
    I was in Hampi on 24th Dec. Did we cross paths?:)

    ReplyDelete
  3. ArtiJanuary 5, 2011 at 5:46 PM

    Beautiful pics.. Haven't visited this place, looks a very nice place!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Indian BazaarsJanuary 5, 2011 at 9:55 PM

    Had visited Anegundi and always wanted to go back. Would love to know more about it!

    ReplyDelete
  5. AswathiBabuJanuary 6, 2011 at 9:15 AM

    Anu
    Waiting for yr coming posts..and wishing you a propsperous new year

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousApril 12, 2014 at 12:20 AM

    Thank you for providing about hanuman ji. happy hanuman jayanti :)

    ReplyDelete

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