The year was 1290 . A crowd had gathered around a clearing, where broken down pillars marked the presence of an ancient temple, now long gone. A young boy, just 14 years old, leaned against one of those pillars, deep in thought. Then, he began speaking, and the crowd fell silent, listening to his every word. He spoke without any notes, translating the Bhagavat Gita, from Sanskrit, which only the pundits knew, to the language everyone in the village knew and spoke – a variety of Prakrit which developed into the Marathi language. Even as he spoke, one of the men in the audience realized how momentous this event was, and how important this composition would be. He began writing down the words the young boy spoke, and this composition was named by its author and composer, the Bhavartha Deepika – the enlightening meaning (of the Bhagavat Gita). Now, the ancient, holy text, was no longer restricted to the pundits, but accessible to all, understood easily by them, composed as it was, in their...
There are 12 temples inside the Mysore Palace complex. Some
of these are ancient ones, which stood long before the palace was built, while
others are relatively recent, having been built by the royal family in
different periods. Among these, it is the Shveta Varahaswamy Temple which is
the most prominent, since it is located right next to the present entrance to
the palace.
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| Varaha over the main doorway |
Varaha is the third avatar or incarnation of Lord Vishnu,
the family deity of the Wodeyars. He appears in the form of a wild boar,bringing out the earth (Bhu-devi) from the ocean. The idol being made of white
stone, He is called ‘Shveta (white) Varahaswamy. It is said that the idol was
brought from Srimushnam in Tamilnadu, by Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar (1672-1704),
and consecrated at a new temple in Srirangapatna, which was then their capital.
In 1809, the deity was brought to Mysore and consecrated in this temple by
Diwan Purnaiah as per the wishes of Krishna Raja Wodeyar III.
The temple is built in the typical Hoysala style of
architecture with intricate work over the doorways and pillars.
There is also a
separate shrine for the goddess.
One of the interesting things about this
temple are the paintings representing the Ramayana and Bhagavata on the walls
of the pillared hall. Unfortunately, cameras aren’t allowed inside the temple,
so I have no photos of these. Instead, here is a depiction of the Dashavatar
(the 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu) over the doorway…
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| Narasimha... killing the demon Hiranyakasipu |
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| Narasimha in a different pose... as Lakshmi Narasimha accompanied by smaller ircons of Dashavatars... the one on the left is Vamana. I cant identify the one on the right. Looks a bit like Garuda. |
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| Some of the Dashavatars/.. the central one is Rama. see the smaller icons of Matsya, Kurma and Varaha |
I am sharing this post today with SkyWatch Friday. True, there isnt much of the sky in these pics, but standing in the palace complex, looking around, the temples with their majestic gopurams were the most visible on the skyline! For more beautiful skies from around the world, visit the Skywatch page.
Wow, Gorgeous! Indeed, extraordinary architecture...like your tour.
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Thanks so much. I havent been able to see a lot of blogs recently, but when i start to catch up, I surely will read yours. hope to keep seeing u here.
DeleteVery beautiful photos for SWF!Have a nice weekend.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Steffi! have a grt weekend too!
DeleteBeautifully covered. I have been wanting to do this for long now.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rajesh! would love to read your impressions of the temple too.
DeleteWonderful architectures. Nice shots.
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