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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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Navaratri Day 10: Winding up

Dusshera or Vijayadasami - either way, the tenth day of Navaratri is one of celebration. This year, I have been less than enthusiastic about the festival, but surrounded as I am by the celebration in all its many hues, I have still managed to post (almost) every day! Wondering how to wind up my posts, I came across this sight, which inspired me to write....





"What is so special about this?" You may ask. These are just blown up Chhota Bheem balloons sold almost at every street corner. What struck me was that we saw these wherever we went - outside the Fine Arts Society, where we went to see the Bommai Kolu; outside the Bengali Durga Puja at Chembur Naka; at the Ramleela Mela at Gandhi Maidan, and even outside our very own Chheda Nagar Temple!!! 



Chhota Bheem has nothing to do with the festival, and yet, he seems to be omnipresent across the celebrations, irrespective of region or language! 


The impromptu stalls that turn up outside festival venues go a long way in making our celebrations what they are... And once again, I feel happy to live in a place where I get to see all this variety, and notice bits like this which make me smile!

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Location: Chembur, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Comments

  1. divsiOctober 8, 2014 at 6:59 PM

    these are pictures of the Gandhi Maidan right? What fanfare during Navratri! The ram leela and the Ravan dehan :)
    I am finding so many chembur-ites Today in blogosphere! What Coincidence :)

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    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarOctober 9, 2014 at 12:14 PM

      Yes, they are from Gandhi Maidan, Divsi! Are you from Chembur too? Its interesting how the blogsphere throws interesting stuff at us!

      Delete
  2. divsiOctober 10, 2014 at 7:47 PM

    Yes! I stay very near Gandhi Maidan:)

    ReplyDelete

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