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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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Magic!

On our recent visit to Mount Abu, we walked to the lake to spend the evening. As we were awaiting our turn for the boat ride, a young boy came up to Shankar and said that he would show us some magic tricks. These days, I  don't have much patience with young chaps who accost us at tourist destinations, and would have ignored the chap, but Shankar said, "Come on, let's see what he does."
So off we went, towards a slightly less crowded section of the park, and proceeded to see just what is meant by 'sleight of hand'! Yes, that was a new term that Samhith learned that day. The young boy was so good with it, that we happily paid him more than we had thought of. But a bigger surprise was to come. As we left, I was telling Shankar that I should have taken a video, and suddenly, the boy turned to us and said, "Koi baat nahin, madam, main youtube par hoon. Aap Fateh Khan Jaadugar search kijiye... mil jayega! (Its ok, madam,I am on you tube.Just search for Fateh Khan Jaadugar, and you will find it!). Of course, I came back and looked for the video, and here it is. Unfortunately, it isnt all that clear and seeing his performance live was a hundred times better, but its still worth a look....


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  1. Prateek_bplJanuary 16, 2012 at 2:13 AM

    i had also seen his magic,it was awesome.........the boy is really good with his magic......hope best for him.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anu ShankarJanuary 16, 2012 at 1:29 PM

    Absolutely!!

    ReplyDelete

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