Bhubaneshwar is often called the city of temples . It is impossible to know exactly how many temples there are, but it has been estimated that there might be over 700 temples in the city. This number, while impressive, is just a fraction of the original number, which, sometime in the 13 th century, would have been about 7000. Wikipedia has a page dedicated to the Hindu temples of Bhubaneshwar , where 93 temples are listed. All these are ancient temples, built between the 7 th and 13 th centuries CE. Bhubaneshwar was once known as Ekamra Kshetra , the sacred mango grove. We know this name from an inscription at the Ananta Vasudeva temple, which mentions the name of the place, and the main temple (that we now know as the Lingaraja temple) in the mango grove. Ananta Vasudeva Temple, with a sculpture of Trivikrama in the niche It is extremely interesting to note that the Ananta Vasudeva temple is the only temple to Lord Vishnu in this city. Varaha, Ananta Vasudeva Temple Located v...
Fridays are always auspicious for the Devi, and Fridays during Navaratri are even more special. Normally, when we perform the puja at home, we invite everyone home for Haldi – Kumkum on a Friday, but this year, we were busy visiting others, as we did not have the puja ourselves. Here is a photograph of the kolu at one of our neighbours’. Samhith went to see it first and told them that they had very few toys, as compared to his grandmother. He also gave them suggestions about what they could do to make it look even better. Of course, his interest in the golu is great, but I don’t know what I am going to do if the chap keeps talking like this! From Miscellaneous The decoration in the temple was of CHOTTANIKKARA BHAGAVATHI. The Devi looked beautiful amidst a number of oil lamps, which had been lit to give a wonderful effect. From Miscellaneous The Chottanikkara Bhagavathi temple is one of the most important and famous temples of Kerala, and needs no introduction. The De...