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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...
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I am back at last!

I am back, after a long hiatus...... and thanks to the gap, don't know what to write... Theres actually lots to write about..... Apart from my trip to Hampi, Badami, Aihiole and Pattadakkal, which most of you know about, I also made a trip to Ajanta and Ellora, and later even one to Elephanta. So now I have so many cave temples I want to describe, and I dont know where to start!! Apart from that, there have been lots more interesting things happening.. such as a book launch, the Kala Ghoda Festival, which is now over... and lots more.....



Before I get back with my posts, here is a bit of good news for all of you. Thanks to all those of you who voted for me in the Best of Indian Blogosphere 2010 Polls, this blog is one of the winners in the Personal Category. Once again, my sincere thanks to all of you. You can see the badge on the top right hand corner of the blog. You can see the complete list of selected blogs here. 

Meanwhile, since I am still wondering how to make up for all the time I missed, here are a few pics for you.....






These are 'Book art' from the Kala Ghoda Festival, which was held at the beginning of Feb. These are made from old, torn books. They look fascinating, don't they? Samhith loved them, and wondered if he could make these too, and wanted to use his books for the purpose, but I have deflected the intention for now. Do any of you know how to go about making such masterpieces? Would love to hear from you... and maybe Samhith can learn and try it out on some of his old books too!

Now that I have started again, I hope to keep writing at least one post a day, so wish me luck! Meanwhile, there are some interesting things coming up, so please do keep coming back!!


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  1. Sankara Subramanian CFebruary 26, 2011 at 1:30 AM

    Welcome back and Congratulations for your blogjunta award.

    The book art is very interesting.Some of them are really creative.

    ReplyDelete

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