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Odisha Part 2 - Puri: The Experience of Jagannath

The temple of Jagannath at Puri is one of the four most important temples across India. Sometimes called the Char Dham – Badrinath in the north, Rameswaram in the South, Dwarka in the west, and Puri in the east – these temples mark four corners of our country, and each of these temples has a connection to Adi Shankara. He is said to have travelled to each of them, thus marking a sacred geography of India, long before the country actually existed. Among these 4 temples, 3 are dedicated to Lord Vishnu, while only Rameswaram is dedicated to Lord Shiva, though the lingam there is said to have been installed by Rama. Further, Shankara set up Mutts at 3 of these sites (or very close to these sites, like at Badrinath, where the mutt is at Joshimutt), while the mutt in the south is at Sringeri in Karnataka, quite a distance away from Rameswaram. Coming back to the topic, I have visited Rameswaram most often, Badrinath during my childhood, and Dwaraka a few times, but Puri had stayed out of re...
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The Last Kolu Pics for this year!

Some of you might be bored of Kolus by now, after seeing so many over the last few days! However, before I close the Navaratri chapter for this year, here are the last three kolu arrangements for this year.....

The Fine Arts Society, Chembur, has a mammoth 15 steps Kolu which draws visitors over all the ten days of the festival. Besides, there is also usually an interesting decoration based on a theme. 



This year, the theme was a dual one - Of Andal and Meera, represented picturesquely with handmade dolls!


Everyone knows the story of Meera - who loved Krishna and none but Him, and in spite of facing all sorts of troubles, remained true to her Lord, finally merging with Him.....



Andal's is a similar story. She is the poetess saint of the south, who loved the Lord, and considered him to be her spouse. As with Meera, she too merged with the Lord, all decked up as a bride. Many Vishnu temples have sanctums dedicated to her.



While we loved seeing the beautiful dolls made with such care and eye for detail, there were some interesting dolls on display too.....By now, you all would have realised our fascination with Dashavataram dolls. Here was something different....

Dashavataram - featuring Ganesha!!!! Interesting depiction, right???



And then, there was this beautiful set depicting women near a river.....



and we love these sets depicting the merchants selling their wares.....



The next kolu was at the Bhajan Samaj, Ghatkopar. Here are the steps....



An interesting set of dolls depict the Sapta Matrika - seven forms of the Devi...



and on the side were these dolls..... There is a set depicting Ravana holding court and Hanuman sitting on a seat he has made by winding up his tail.... and also a set depicting a band....



Our last and final Kolu this year was at the Mariamman Temple in our colony.....



Most of the dolls are the same as last year... just one is new.....



This is half Ganesha and half Hanuman... I have never seen one like this. Have you?

Last, but not the least, at the same temple, the utsava murthy of the goddess was decked up as Saraswati..... Yes, this was on the ninth day of Navaratri....


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Location: Chembur, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Comments

  1. ArchanaOctober 8, 2011 at 8:20 PM

    Wow, read all your posts on Navratri. Lovely pictures and excellent documentation. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anu ShankarOctober 9, 2011 at 10:46 AM

    Thanks a lot, Archana!

    ReplyDelete
  3. MadhuOctober 9, 2011 at 9:30 PM

    Ya... we have the same doll like that... its called ADHI ANTHA PRABHU...half Ganesh & half Hanuman...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anu ShankarOctober 9, 2011 at 9:47 PM

    Thanks Madhu.. didnt know that.. first time i saw such a doll!

    ReplyDelete

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