The Rajarani Temple in Bhubaneshwar gets its name from the stone used to build it - the red and yellow sandstone used here is locally called Rajarani. This temple was once known as the Indreshwara temple, which is mentioned in the Ekamra Purana, which tells us about the temples of Bhubaneshwar, which was then known as Ekamra Kshetra. Today, the temple stands in a well-maintained lawn, and is the only ticketed monument within the city. The temple is built in the typical Kalinga style, with the tall curvilinear shikara over the garbagruha , and a jagamohana connected to it. The temple is believed to date back to the 11 th century, and is most well known for its sculptures. The entrance to the temple has two pillars with a Naga couple protecting the sanctum, holding garlands in their hands. The base of the pillar shows 3 lions standing over 3 elephants, a typical motif in temples of this region during this period. On the other side of the pillar is a horse and rider, and the two mo...
After the nine nights and days of navaratri, the festival culminated with Dusshera, or Vijaya Dashami. For us, the highlight of the day was our visit to the Fine Arts Society, Chembur for Guru Vandana and Vidyarambham – where we pay our respects to our teacher and begin a new year of musical education, or rather, Samhith does, progressing from the junior music level to senior this year….. I complete this series of festival blogs with my photographs of the Fine Arts Kolu, one of the best in this area…. Here is the main Kolu.. This is the side decoration – this time, Tirupati , with a cave underneath…. I couldn’t get more details about this since everyone was tied up with the Vijaya Dashami celebrations….. Here are some detailed shots of the dolls…. Well, thats all for this year, folks.... Shall be back with something new... till, then, keep reading my blog and suggest topics for me to write about!!!!