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Odisha Part 9 : The Vaital Temple, Bhubaneshwar

The Vaital temple is of the many intriguing temples in Bhubaneshwar. To begin with, the structure itself resembles a South-Indian temple more than the typical Kalingan style that we see everywhere else in Odisha. The temple has been dated to the last quarter of the 8 th century CE. Further , unlike most of the temples in Bhubaneshwar, this temple is not dedicated to Lord Shiva. Inside the sanctum is one of the deities who is very rarely seen in a sanctum – Chamunda, along with the Saptamatrikas. This is evidently a Shakta shrine. However, the presence of Lakulisha on the vimana indicates the connection with the Pasupata sect, which is most prevalent in this region during this time period. Further, the name of the temple – ‘Vaital’, comes from the word ‘ vetala’ , referring to spirits, which were invoked by tantrics to attain siddhis. Thus, this temple is an amalgamation of Pasupata and Shakta philosophy, with a strong emphasis on tantric rituals, and this is reflected in the iconogra...
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A New Visitor to my Backyard - Long Tailed Shrike

I have been getting a bit bored of the bird photos I have been posting.... I have loads of them, but they are of the birds I see every day.. and I am losing my enthusiasm for them. I was just sitting at my desk looking at my bird photos and wondering which one to post today, when I heard a sound. Now, I have often run to the window at the slightest sound, wondering if it was a bird, but I have often been wrong, or just got a glimpse of a bird as it flew away before I could identify it. I was therefore not too excited or hopeful. However, there it was, perched on a tree on the other side of the jogging park. I could barely get a glimpse of the bird, but it seemed busy calling out, so I took out my camera and got clicking. This is what I saw...



I kept clicking till the bird finally tired of calling out, and flew away. It was then time to go unearth my bird books and try to identify it.


It turned out to be a Long Tailed Shrike, or Rufous Backed Shrike.


From what I could understand from the books and Wikipedia, the bird appears to be quite common all over the Indian Subcontinent, and prefers scrub and open habitats. I wonder what it was doing in the middle of the concrete jungle!! 


In any case, I clicked so many photographs, and am so thrilled to see a different bird for a change, that I am posting more of the photos.... as it warbled away ... perhaps searching for its mate? Trying to find its way back?






As I finish this post, I am still wondering what the bird was doing so far from its normal habitat, and hoping it finds its way back to where it came from. There is one thing I am thankful for, though.... it brightened up my day, and gave me something to write about!!
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Location: Chedda Nagar, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Comments

  1. MridulaOctober 4, 2012 at 1:05 PM

    I know that feeling when we want to see different birds rather than the usual ones :D

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    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarOctober 4, 2012 at 9:13 PM

      i guess you do :D and you get to see so many more than me!!!

      Delete
  2. IndraniOctober 4, 2012 at 8:14 PM

    Probably in a migrating mode.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarOctober 4, 2012 at 9:13 PM

      hmm.. thats quite possible, Indrani! never thought of that!

      Delete
  3. IndraniOctober 4, 2012 at 8:14 PM

    Probably in a migrating mode.

    ReplyDelete
  4. chitraOctober 4, 2012 at 8:45 PM

    Nice poses you gt Anu..

    ReplyDelete

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