The absence of ancient Hindu structures in Kashi is something I have always lamented about. The shrines are certainly ancient, and that is something that has always attracted me to the city. However, I miss the beauty of the ancient structures that we see at other sites. This feeling is intensified when I see marble and concrete and tiles in temples that once would have been beautifully adorned with evocative sculptures, and worn by the passage of time, touched by the hands of seekers who came before. This time , this desire to see some remnants of an ancient Hindu structure in Kashi came true when I managed to visit the Kardameshwar Temple. The Kardameshwar temple is not one of the main temples in the city. It is part of the temples on the Pancha Kroshi yatra, a pilgrimage which takes one on a circumambulatory tour of the whole city. The temple is located on the outskirts of the city, on the western bank of a tank called the Kardama Kund. The Kardameshwar temple is one of the...
Christmas vacation is on , and our long vacation has been cut short to just a few days... more about that later... but as of now, we are stuck at home, with only trips to the ration office to look forward to (Ration card verification is on, you see, and there are forms to be filled.... papers to be attested.... and finally documents are to be submitted... amidst many arguments in hindi/marathi of course.....). We decided to take a break and head out to some temples within Bombay - Siddhivinayak, Phanaswadi (Venkateswara Temple at C.P.Tank), and Mahalakshmi..... While I did click some pics of the first, I was dissuaded from using them, thanks to a couple of the army officers asking me not to click pics, so I am not going to put them up. There were no such restrictions at the other temples, but I stuck to just the outer view, and did not even try for some more.... But here are a few glimpses from our day out.... I have always been fascinated by the old houses and buildings o...