Gopuram of Mallikeswarar temple, Mannady, Chennai
another image of Raavana carrying Mt Kailash. On the gopuram of Sree Mallikeswarar temple, Linghi Chetty Street, Mannady, Chennai
Happy Navaratri to all. Being Mahanavami today, I thought of bringing you some of the images of Mahishasuramardinis from various locations. The pictures were taken by me at different point of time.
Mahabalipuram Mahishasuramardini
The above is perhaps the most majestic and well-preserved one. With its fluidic movement and detail, it is almost like an animated presentation.
Mahishasuramardini Ellora cave 16 (Kailasanatha )
at Kailasanatha temple, Kanchipuram
Durga at Cave 14 Ellora
Kailasanatha temple, Kanchipuram
Another Mahishasuramardini at Ellora Cave 16 (Kailasanatha)
Mahishasuramardini near Tiger Cave, Saluvankuppam
☝️Near Tiger Cave, Saluvankuppam
The rock North of Shore Temple Mahabalipuram (outside view above & closeup below)
Mahishasura Mardhini Baijnath temple, Himachal Pradesh.
Mini Mahishasura mardini inside the lion, shore temple.
Mahishasura mardini cave 14 Ellora & a visitor.
At Aihole, Karnataka
Another one at Aihole, Karnataka
Dancing Ganesha. ca 12th Century CE. Basalt. North Bengal.
On this day of Ganesh Chaturthi I was happy to locate this picture of Dancing Ganesha from my collection taken in the Indian Museum, Kolkata.
I was trying to search the web of the legend of the Dancing Ganesha. On first glance, all I got was details of an Indian restaurant by that name in the US of A and an Android App. I tried Nartana Ganapathy and I got Amazon pages on a doll (Chinese?). May be I should look more carefully later.
Ganapathy Bappa Morya..
Kartikeya – Indian Museum, Kolkata
At the Indian Museum, Kolkata. ca.12 Century C.E. Chlorite from North Bengal.
The name Karthikeya is derived from the six Kritika maidens who brought him up. Many forms show him with six heads – Shanmukha, but this one does not.
kartikeya dolls
The legend of Kartikeya and Krittika maidens. Dolls at an exhibition. A phone grab.
Trimurthis with only one leg
On the Northern Wall of the Sree Thyagarajaswamy temple, Thiruvottiyur.
This is the Ekapada Murthy aspect of the Trimurtis.
There can be many interpretations. The one given by the heritage tour leader, Pradeep Chakravarthy was this:
It was a time when Jainism and Buddhism were kept at bay by Hinduism. However, there was friction between various factions of Hinduism. This depiction of an integrated form of Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma was to highlight the fact that all philosophies converge.
This is also sometimes referred to as Tripaada Trimurthy since a leg each of Brahma and Vishnu are also seen.
Another interpretation is that this showcases the supremacy of Shiva as the axis of the world or its cosmic pillar
Lord Kothandaramar on Punnai mara vaahanam
Krishna’s gopi vastrapaharan has been described in earlier blogs. Today, I witnessed Lord Kothandramar in Punnai mara vaahanam. Local devotees explained that this vahanam is to highlight the vastrapaharan episode and the related philosophical concepts.
6th day of the Kothandaramar temple festival, West Mambalam.
The Chennai Photowalk #111
More information on punnai trees and temples: http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/the-tree-that-cures/article5962870.ece
Vaikunta Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram, Pallava 7-8 Century C.E
I was not aware of the Vaikunta Perumal Temple of Kanchipuram till now. If you are amazed by the Kailasnatha temple, you will be stunned by Vaikunta Perumal temple. This 7 century Pallava temple has bas-relief sculptures all over the walls – divine images as well as battle scenes, everyday life etc. Sadly, a lot of the sandstone sculptures are eroded and were plastered by ASI in an attempt to stop further damage.
The temple is in three levels – Vishnu is in sitting posture in the main sanctum. At the next level, approachable by a narrow stairway, he is Ranganathar, in lying posture. At the third level, which we did not see, he is in standing posture.
The picture was taken with phone camera (Redmi 4 Note) and tweaked on Snapseed. #phoneography.
