Lingraj Temple

Lingraj temple is considered to be the most ancient and the largest of all the temples in Bhubaneshwar, the capital of Odisha, historically known as Ekamra Kshetra (एकाम्र क्षेत्र). 

Outside Lingraj temple, Bhubaneswar

King of Jaipur/Jeypore in 11th century, on shifting his capital to Bhubaneshwar, embarked on construction of the Lingraj temple. 

Lingraj Temple, Bhubaneswar

One of the dwars (entrances) to Lingraj Temple, Bhubaneswar

The Ling is believed to have originated on its own (Swayambhu) and is worshiped both as Vishnu and Shiv, revered as Hari-Har. Parvati is said to have destroyed two demons here. To quench her thirst, Shivji created Bindu Lake here with various holy rivers contributing the waters.

Bindu Lake, Bhubaneswar

Thought that some parts of the temple was built originally in the 6th century it was renovated in a fully fledged way only in the 11th century. 

The temple in Bindu Lake, Bhubaneswar

Collecting jal (water) from the Bindu Lake, Bhubaneswar

Rath Yatra

Ratha Yatra is a nine-day festival celebrated each year. The three deities of the Jagannath temple are taken out in huge wooden chariots or raths (which are built anew each year). 

Logs got ready for making the raths

Work on the raths has started

The wheels in making

A wheel and its axle. An idea of the size can be had here

The rath yatra (chariot journey) goes to Gundicha Mata temple, 3 kms away from the main temple – Gundicha was the Queen of King Indradyumna who built the first temple at Puri. 

The temple, on the occasion of the rathyatra

The three raths of Balram, Subhadra and Jagannath. And the devotees.

The return journey to the main temple after nine days is called as Bahud Yatra. The three chariots are called Nandighosh नंदीघोष (of Jagannath) Taldhvaj तालध्वज (Balbhadra or Balram) and Devdalan देवदलन (Subhadra); these are decorated with fabric coloured yellow, green and black respectively, mixed with red. 

The chariot of Balram, decorated in green colour, ready to be pulled

The chariot of Subhadra, decorated in black, ready to be pulled.

While the idols are taken out on a Rath, the three chariots are pulled by devotees through the streets of Puri. Since non-Hindus are not allowed at Jagannath temple, the rathyatra is an opportunity for them to have darshan. The photos here are entirely of the 2018 celebrations.

 The three raths of Balram, Subhadra and Jagannath. And the devotees.

A small video of the procession can be viewed here. 

The festival is celebrated on second day of the bright lunar fortnight in the month of Ashadh - आषाढ़ शुक्ल द्वितीया. In 2018, it was on July 14, while the Ulta Rath or Bahud Yatra was on July 23, 2018. The largest Rath Yatra festival is celebrated at Jagannath Puri in Orissa, while smaller ones are celebrated in other cities too. In Varanasi, we have a Rathyatra crossing – रथयात्रा की चौमानी – a rath is kept there which too is pulled along the road.

There are various stories associated with the deities and the Jagannath Rath Yatra. 

• King Subal, a great devotee of Jagannath, asked a sculptor to create idols of Krishna, brother Balaram and sister Subhadra. The sculptor’s condition was to work in a room in solitude. But the King became impatient and opened the door - the sculptor disappeared and all the King could see were the wooden deities – only partially complete and without their limbs. 
• Another is of mother Rohini telling tales of young Krishna to his wives. Subhadra was tasked with keeping the men away. Engrossed, she then stood between Krishna and Balram at the doorway. Narad saw this scene and wished for these to bless people together.
• And one story goes that King Indradyumna, disappointed to find no idols of Vishnu on the Nilanchal mountain was given a divine assurance of re-incarnation as Jagannath but in the form of stone or wood.

After Krishna left Vrindavan, many decades later the Vraja-gopis met him in Kurukshsetra and longed for a lasting re-union. They envisioned taking Krishna back to Vrindavan on a chariot – drawn not by horses, but by the love of their hearts and the labor of their hands. This is immortalized in the Rath-Yatra - the starting point represents Kurukshetra and the ending point Vrindavan. Devotees pull the chariot and assist the gopis in their labor of love. 

Incidentally, as part of the Chithirai Festival of the Shaivites in April/May each year, the Vaishnavites take out the Alagar procession in a rath – photos in the post on Madurai
(My grateful thanks to my friends for the rathyatra photographs posted here).

Jagannath Puri

Jagannath Puri, identified by Adi Shankaracharya, is our dham in the East and finds mention in the Purans. The Temple, dedicated to Jagannath (Vishnu), is on the coast of Puri - about 60 kms from Bhubhaneshwar – the capital of Odisha.

The road to the Jagannath temple

Here the idols are of Krishna, his elder brother Balram and sister Subhadra and are made of (a type of) neem wood. 

Photography is no longer permitted in most temples. Here is a depiction of the three idols - done in the famous silver filigree work of Odisha

In our lunar calendar, once in 32 ½ months there are 13 months in a year – an extra month or adhik or purshottam or mal mass (मल मास). The position of the Adhik Mas is not fixed, when it is in the month of Aashad (आषाढ़), the existing wooden idols go into the samadhi gufa or cave and fresh ones are installed. This happens once in, say 12 years.

Entering the complex of the Jagannath Puri temple

The temple has four gates in the four directions – the eastern entrance called the Singhdwar or the Lion Gate, forms the main entrance of the temple and has giant statues of crouching lions guarding the entrance on either side. The other three gates facing North, South and West are named after the animals that guard them - Hathidwar or Elephant Gate, the Vyaghradwar or the Tiger Gate and the Ashwadwar or the Horse Gate. In front of the entrance to the eastern gateway is the beautiful Sun Pillar (Aruna Stambh), which originally stood before the Sun Temple at Konark and was shifted here.

 The Horse Gate or the Ashwadwar

The kitchen within the temple premises is huge and amazing with no mechanical aids. Thus, the cutting of all vegetables and grating of coconut etc. are all done by hand by the persons sitting on the floor. And the cooking is done on earthen pots, nine pots in a 3x3 arrangement kept in bhattis – apparently food is cooked for 10000 persons at a time.

There are some incredible and interesting beliefs about the temple which do not have a logical explanation. For e.g. irrespective of where you stand, the Sudarshan Chakra on top of the temple always seems to be facing you. The flag atop the temple has been observed to flap in the opposite direction of the breeze. No birds fly above the Jagannath temple in Puri. The shadow of the main dome of Jagannath temple is not visible, whatever be the time of day etc. 

The city of Puri is beautiful with a long beach. 

The beautiful sea coast at Puri

And graffiti along the walls of clean roads. 

Graffiti on the walls of Puri

Each year the idols are taken out in a procession and then brought back in what is called the rath yatra. More on this will follow in the next post.

Madurai

Madurai, situated on the banks of Vaigai river in Tamil Nadu, is famous for the Meenakshi temple. The legend goes that Meenakshi (meaning eyes like a fish), a form of Parvati, was the outcome of prayers by the then King and Queen. She appeared as a three-year-old, with three breasts (one of which would disappear when she met her future husband – Shiv). 

The Lotus Pond of the Meenakshi temple

Named Thadathagai, she was trained like a son and crowned the Queen of Madurai. The tale goes that after conquering the whole world, she reached Mount Kailash where she met Shivji (when, as foretold, her third breast disappeared).

Meenakshi

Her marriage to Shiv ji – known here as Sundareshwar took place in Madurai. 

Sundareshwar

While the main and important deity remains Meenakshi, it is also an important holy Shiv temple – he performed 64 lilas (लीला) here, for the benefit of his disciples. 

The intricate carving of the marriage, the lilas of Shivji etc.

The temple complex is big with several gopurams and mandapams. It also has a hall of 1000 pillars. Details of Meenakshi temple are found in the Sthalpurans.

Carvings in the corridors of Meenakshi Temple

The ancient Alagar Kovil temple, just a few kilometres from Madurai, is situated at the foothills of Alagar hills. 

The Alagar Kovil Temple

In Tamil scriptures, Vishnu is known as Thirumal or Perumal and, in this area, is called Alagar. 

The entrance to the Alagar Kovil temple

The Alagar Koyil is dedicated to Vishnu and is known for its intricate sculpting and mandaps.

The temple has beautiful carvings on its facade.

According to legend, Vishnu had come down for the divine marriage of his sister Meenakshi with Sundareshwar. Unfortunately, the marriage took place before he could reach there. Initially he was annoyed at this, but the couple came to meet him on the way. Vishnu blessed the divine couple and turned back from the banks of the river Vaigai.

The big mandap just outside the Alagar Kovil temple

In April/May each year, the month long Chithirai Festival of the Shaivites celebrates the wedding of Meenakshi with Sundareshwar. The latter fortnight has the Alagar festival that is celebrated by Vaishnavites where the Alagar procession is taken out in a rath.

The rath, just after the Alagar festival

A closer look of the rath of the Alagar festival

Temples around Rameshwaram

In and around Rameswaram are several temples

Situated just 2 km from Rameshwaram Temple, the Hanuman Temple has a huge Five-faced (पांच मुख) idol of Hanuman in black stone. The legend goes that, while on their way to Lanka, Ram and his brother Lakshman were abducted by Ahiravan, Ravan’s brother who hid them in the nether world (paatal lok). The demon Ahiravan could be killed only if five oil lamps, kept in five different directions were extinguished at the same time. Hanuman, facing east, took four other forms - Narasimha facing south, Garud facing west, Varah facing north and Hayagriva facing the sky. He then extinguished the diyas and rescued Ram and Lakshman. 

Five-faced (पांच मुख) idol of Hanuman in black stone

Incidentally he came out of Paatal lok at Naimisharanya (please see an earlier post here). The temple also displays a few stones floating in water, said to indicate those which were used to build the bridge – Ram Setu - between India and Lanka. (Read my post on Dhanushkodi here)

The floating stones in the Hanuman temple

A closer look at a floating stone piece we have

Gandhamathan Parvatham, a hillock and the highest point in the island is said to be the site from where Hanuman set off to Ravan’s Lanka to find Sita. Other legends link it to Hanuman fetching the herb to save Lakshman, still others to it being the place where Hanuman still lives. It gives a birds’ eye view of the whole island. 

The view from the Gandhamathan Parvatham

Rameshwaram temple seen from the Gandhamathan Parvatham

The Ramarpatham Temple situated on it is a two storeyed hall, where Rama's feet is found as an imprint on a chakra (wheel). 

The Ramarpatham Temple

Inside the Ramarpatham Temple

Kothandaramaswamy Temple located at the southernmost tip of Pamban island, is said to be the place where Vibhishan sought refuge with Ram, and where he was subsequently coronated. The temple has the idols of Ram, Sita and Laxman along with Vibhishan. The paintings on the wall depict the story. 

The Kothandaramaswamy Temple where Vibhishan was coronated

Incidentally the Pamban Bridge that connects Rameswaram on the Pamban Island with mainland India is also the country’s first sea bridge and is among the most fascinating places to see in Rameshwaram.

The railway line, visible from the Pamban bridge

Another view from the Pamban Bridge

Dhanushkodi

Dhanushkodi - धनुषकोडी is the spot where the bridge is said to have been built to enable Ramchandra ji to approach the golden city of Lanka to rescue Sita. This bridge was built of floating stones, by Ram’s vanar sena – वानर सेना (the monkey brigade). There are two different tales here. The first goes that the mischievous monkeys Nal and Neel (the sons of Vishwakarma, the architect of the gods) frequently threw the idols of the sadhus into the sea; these idols sank. The sadhus, annoyed at this, cursed that items thrown by the two would henceforth float, enabling them to walk into the sea and collect the idols. In the second version, stones which had the words Ram written on them would float.

And so the bridge – Ram Setu - was built. On Ram’s return with Sita, he broke the bridge by touching it with the tip of his bow - धनुष - hence Dhanushkodi धनुषकोडी or end of the bow. While the bridge is no longer visible, the remains of it are said to be visible in satellite images. Floating stones are today on display at the Hanuman Mandir (more on this in a future post) - we too have a piece.

The calm Bay of Bengal at Arichal Munai, just beyond Dhanushkodi

Another view of the Bay of Bengal at Arichal Munai, just beyond Dhanushkodi

Not so calm - the Indian Ocean at Arichal Munai, just beyond Dhanushkodi

The extreme point at Arichal Munai, just beyond Dhanushkodi

Dhanushkodi, about 25 kms from Rameshwaram, is very close to Sri Lanka. The farthest rail point – the beach town was populated till recently but has suffered natural disasters. In 1964 it was destroyed by a cyclone and the area is now in ruins – declared to be a ghost town. 

The ghost town of Dhanushkodi

Ruins are all that remain of Dhanushkodi

The ruined church at Dhanushkodi

A few kms. beyond is the extreme point of Indian soil - the tip of land bordered by the Bay of Bengal on one side and the Indian Ocean on the other. A good motorable road has very recently been opened from Rameshwaram via Dhanushkodi and beyond upto Arichal Munai. 

Present day Dhanushkodi and the new motorable road

At the end of the road a rotary allows vehicles to turn at the centre of which the national emblem has been erected. it has the sea all around

The rotary with the national emblem at Arichal Munai, just beyond Dhanushkodi.