The Parasurameshwara temple is one of the oldest temples in Bhubaneshwar, dating back to the early 8 th century CE. It is also one of the more intriguing temples, with a wide variety of very interesting sculptures. This temple has been attributed to the Shailodbhavas , who were Shaivites. The dynasty is named for their founder, Shailodbhava, who is said to have emerged from a rock, by the grace of Lord Shiva, in response to a prayer by a man from Kalinga, to create a man capable of ruling the earth. That this temple is dedicated to Shiva is clear, not only from the Shaiva dwarapalas who guard the entrance, but also from the numerous sculptures depicting Shiva in his many forms. However, what makes this temple very interesting is the presence of multiple images of the goddesses, especially the Saptamatrikas. The presence of different forms of the goddess, a panel depicting the marriage of Shiva and Parvati, as well as an image of Ardhanareeshwara suggest a strong Shakta influence o...
When we first came to Bombay, the biggest challenge we faced was the language – we knew English, Hindi, Tamil, and a smattering of the other south Indian languages, but Marathi was truly an alien tongue then. And to add to that, our school had already started teaching Marathi, so I had to catch up too! We soon realized that the language was not all that hard to understand or to read – it was after all, not too different from Hindi, and thankfully the script was the same, but speaking was another matter altogether. Everyone in our vicinity insisted on being nice, and spoke to us in Hindi, even when we asked them to speak in Marathi so that we could learn the language.