The temple of Jagannath at Puri is one of the four most important temples across India. Sometimes called the Char Dham – Badrinath in the north, Rameswaram in the South, Dwarka in the west, and Puri in the east – these temples mark four corners of our country, and each of these temples has a connection to Adi Shankara. He is said to have travelled to each of them, thus marking a sacred geography of India, long before the country actually existed. Among these 4 temples, 3 are dedicated to Lord Vishnu, while only Rameswaram is dedicated to Lord Shiva, though the lingam there is said to have been installed by Rama. Further, Shankara set up Mutts at 3 of these sites (or very close to these sites, like at Badrinath, where the mutt is at Joshimutt), while the mutt in the south is at Sringeri in Karnataka, quite a distance away from Rameswaram. Coming back to the topic, I have visited Rameswaram most often, Badrinath during my childhood, and Dwaraka a few times, but Puri had stayed out of re...
The monsoons have arrived and we breathe a little more easily, in spite of the flooded roads, and a power cut die to a short circuit somewhere.....Having nothing much to do with the current gone, I spent some time taking snaps of the skies from our window........ Here are three snaps taken at different times of the day - the view is the same, but how different it looks each time! This is why I love monsoons, and am willing to put up with any discomforts, from wet clothes to wading through knee deep water.... Its all worth it! For more skies around the world, go to Sky Watch Friday