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...
The Nubra region lies north of Leh, two scenic valleys formed by the Nubra and Shyok rivers, between the Ladakh range and the Karakoram mountains. The region is part green, part rocky and barren, and part desert, sand dunes and all. This was our destination for the next couple of days of our Ladakh tour. Mountains, rivers, trees and sand, together at 10,000 ft! Setting off quite early in the morning , we had our first experience of what a traffic jam looked like here! We found ourselves in a line of vehicles behind a convoy of army trucks, and it was slow going, allowing us to not only enjoy the landscape, but also appreciate the difficulties the terrain posed to the army, and the efforts that must go in to maintaining these roads. The KhardungLa pass , said to be the world’s highest at 5,602m (18,380ft), was filled with tourists clicking away. We halted for a while at the insistence of our driver, but moved on as quickly as possible! We also visited the monastery at Sumur en r...