Interesting Sculptures -Badami Cave temple

Badami - a place in Karantaka, very famous for cave temples. Last year I had been to Badami and Pattadakallu( a village nearby Badami- I will write about this in coming posts.)
In Badami cave temple, all the sculptures are very beautiful. Among those sculptures, I found two sculptures very interesting.
One is the "Elephant and Bull, with common head" sculpture:

If the left side of the body is covered its a Bull  and right side covered it is elephant.

It is clear in the below cropped images:

Left side-Elephant

Right side-Bull

When I browsed about this sculpture, I found, this kind of sculpture is present in  Airavateshwara temple (Darasuram-near Tanjore, Tamilnadu)and the world famous heritage centre Hampi (Karnataka). Quite interesting! 

Another sculptures is of Shiva and Parvati, on Nandi (Bull)

It may look normal Shiva Parvati , sculpture. If you observe closely, you can see, Parvati sitting in side saddle position. Parvati's one hand is holding Shiva's waist and another is on the shoulder. Something similar to double riding on a Motor bike :-) Isn't it very interesting?

There are many sculptures in Badami cave temple. I will share about those in the coming posts.

-Until then,

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Kutchwork on Salwar Top

I had been to Belgaum(a city in Karnataka), in 2009. This is the place,where I studied, stayed  for four years. This city brings me lots of memories-good, bad and ugly.....Sometimes I feel there shall be some technique to wipe out memories, whichever we don't want.... :-).Not possible:-( Right?  Leave it.....
When I had been to Belgaum , I had bought this salwar suit. (Got it stitched, long back. It was waiting for its turn to get embroidered. At last its turn came :-) )

This is plain salwar , so thought of embroidering. First thought to use combination of tatted motifs and hand embroidery. Somehow didn't like, so dropped the idea. Went ahead with Kutch work embroidery. I love Kutchwork embroidery , as it is colorful.
Kutchwork is form of embroidery, which is practised in Kutch region ( Gujarat,India). Mainly consists of interlacing stitch and mirror work. While collecting information about this embroidery, I found its very similar to Armenian embroidery ( Armenia is a country, near Turkey). Very interesting, isn't it?
I embroidered border and motifs, with Black and White colored threads
Here it is:


Closer view of the border



And the motifs:

 

With the Duppatta and the bottom , the final look of the Salwar:

Hope I have made the right choice by selecting Kutchwork for this Salwar. What do you say?

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Kumkuma Bharani- with Peacock design

I've shared about my collection of Kumkuma Bharanis( Container to store Vermilion) in previous posts:
My collection of Kumkuma Baharanis
Some more Kumkuma Bharanis
Paper Mache Kumkuma Bharanis

One of my friends,  gave me a Kumkuma Bharani-made of paper mache , which she bought from Kashmir. My collection is increased :-)
Here it is:

 

I have some Kumkuma Bharanis, with Peacock design. The below one is made of Silver, with Peacock shaped handle on it.

Another Peacock shaped Kumkuma Bharani. This is also made of metal, and painted with blue color.

And it can be opened by sliding the upper part. It has 2 compartments, for Haldi( Turmeric powder) and Kumkuma( Vermilion ).

The below one, I like the most. It has very nice design with Kundan attached . This I had bought from a craftsman from Nagpur( Maharastra)

It has a lid and two compartments.

The next one is wooden , in Peacock shape. 

It has sliding lid and two compartments.

                Aren't these worth collecting?

I have completed Kutch work on salwar top, tatted some motifs , enthusiastic  to take you through a craft street ....so many more to share with you in coming posts. 

-Until then

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Murudeshwara- The story of Aatmalinga

In the previous post you have read about Murudeshwara Temple. As I've mentioned , the piece of Aatmalinga thrown by Raavana fell here. What made Raavana to throw the Aatmalinga? This story is narrated through sculptures made of Plaster of Paris, near  Murudeshwara temple. There is cave like construction at the base of Lord Shiva statue:

You can enter the cave by paying 10 Rupees as entry fee.( The collected amount is used for Annadaana-feeding the visitors of the temple). Once entered, a colourful magnificent  sculptures take you to a different world. There is audio narration of story. You can move seeing each of the sculptures and  listening to the story.

Raavana's mother was a devotee of Shiva. She worshipped, Shiva Linga made of sand.She wished to worship Aatmalinga and conveyed her wish to her son Raavana.

Raavana promised his mother, that he would get the Aatmalinga from Lord  Shiva.

As promised to his mother, Raavana prayed Lord Shiva.

 Naarada approached Shri Vishnu and requested him to divert Raavana's mind, thinking , Raavana would use his power to cause evil to the world.

In spite of Raavana's severe penance , Lord Shiva did not appear. So Raavana became furious and lifted the Kailasa Parvata.

Satisfied by Raavana's worship, Lord Shiva appeared with wife Parvati. By this time, Vishnu had played his trick to divert Raavana's mind. Because of this trick, Raavana asked Parvati from Shiva. And Shiva let Parvati go with Raavana.

On the way back to Lanka( Raavana's Kingdom), Naarada met Raavana. He told Raavana that, Lord Shiva had not given him real Parvati and she was in Paatala Loka( world below earth). When Raavana turned back, Parvati appeared as Mahakaali. Horrified by this, Raavana went to Paatala Loka.

In Paatala Loka, Mandodari, daughter of the King looked like Parvati to Raavana  and he married her.

When Raavana returned with his wife, his mother scolded him for not bringing the Aatmalinga.

Raavana again went and prayed Lord Shiva. He started sacrificing himself to Lord Shiva,

cutting every organ. Finally when he started cutting his head, Shiva appeared and gave him the Aatmalinga.Lord Shiva, warned him, the Aatmalinga should not be kept on ground.

This time as instructed by Shri Vishnu, Naarada approached Shri Ganesha, to take Aatmalinga from Raavana.

As Raavana nearing Gokarna, Vishnu made it appear like evening, by masking the Sun. Raavana had to perform his Sandhya Pooja( rituals to be performed in evening),he found Ganesha in disguise of a boy.Raavana requested him to hold the Aatmalinga till he completed his worship.Ganesha told Raavana, as the Aatmalinga was very heavy, he would call Raavana thrice. If Raavana did not come within that time, then he would place the Aatmalinga on the earth.

As planned , Ganesha, called Raavana thrice and placed  the Aatmaling on the earth. Raavana became very furious and hit Ganesha on his scalp.

Raavana realized, this happened because of the trick played by Shri Vishnu. He tried to uproot the Aatmalinga.

Different parts the Aatmalinga were thrown towards Southern direction. 

The case of the Aatmalinga fell in Sajjeshwara, 

The lid of the case fell in a place called Gunavanthe(Gunavatheshwara) 

The thread of the Aatmalinga fell in a place called Dhareshwara and

The cloth covered to Aatmalinga fell on Kanduka hill, or now its called Murudeshwara. 

The place where Aatmalinga placed, is called Gokarna.

Murudeshwara.

Did it not take you to mythological world? The sculptures are built so nicely that  expressions on the face are very clear. In coming posts I will share about all  five temples. If possible try to visit these places and temples. 

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Murudeshwara- Temple on Seashore

This temple is known as one of the oldest temples in India, as it dates to the time of Ramayana.  I can say this is blend of beauty of nature with divinity.  This is a Shiva temple, and the legend says,the piece of Atmalinga thrown by Ravana fell here.
Many times I had visited this temple, because its hardly 60 Kilometres from my native place, Kumta. This time during  visit to my native, I visited Murudeshwara temple.
The doorway of the temple which is painted with Silver and Gold color

As you come close to the temple, cool breeze and roaring sound of the sea welcomes you.

Mesmerizing beauty of Coastal, where the temple is situated.

Oh Lord Shiva !protecting all his devotees. This is the second highest Shiva statue in the world. 

Look at the Gopura of the temple

This is the highest temple Gopura in India. It has 20 floors and we can go to 20th floor by paying 10 Rupees. The collected money is used for Annadana. ( feeding the visitors of the tmple)

 

Entrance of the temple and the Dwajastambha.

The temple has many sculptures, depicting several stories about Lord Shiva.

Parvati Kalyana(Marriage ceremony of Shiva and Parvati)

Ravana lifting Kailasa

Outside the temple also you can see many sculptures :

Shri Ganesha writing the great epic Mahabharatha

Nandi- Lord Shiva's Vahana(Vehicle)

Ravana giving the Atmalinga to Ganesha in disguise

Geetopadesha- Krishna preaching Bhagavadgeeta to Arjuna

Soorya Bhagavan(The Sun God)

By the time we completed visiting all these, the Sun was setting. How could I miss capturing that:

That's why, this is the perfect blend of beauty of nature with divinity. You can see nature in God and God in nature. 

Did I miss anything?Oh! forgot to tell about the story about this temple! Sorry. But don't worry, I will share about that in the next post.

Till then,

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

I could not share all the photos, so those are here.