- Where Mohini & Varahi Beckon
Awesome....Thanks for staying on from
part II.
As I was walking around the temple trying to understand
and decipher as many carvings as I could, I came across a couple of small
kids playing catch. To my horror, they were happily using the carvings for
target practice. A couple of adults nearby did not even seem to realise the
harm that was being caused.
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| A beautiful carving - Photo Credit - Ramani Shankar |
I just took a wild guess that they must be kids from the surrounding village
for whom the temple complex was just a centuries-old playground. In the
nicest and firmest voice I could muster, I asked them to play elsewhere.
Only after that another villager came running and took charge of the
situation.
No wonder there are so many broken noses, faces and other fractured pieces
of carvings in the temple.
As I walked a little further, much to my amusement, another lady came out of
the temple dragging a goat that had wandered into the sanctum. She was
trying to locate its owner. For the villagers, it was just a playground and
grazing ground. Not the purpose Veera Ballala II would have hoped the temple
would serve.
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| Goddess with corn cob in her hand |
Sorry about the deviation, moving on to the carvings now - a beautiful
figurine of a goddess holding corn of cob in one hand stands in testimony to
the existence and value of corn cobs even in those days. Not just here, but
I did see them in a few other temples too. I do hope I've collected
pictorial references of those. There are some references of corn cobs
arriving in India around the 11th century, all the from Mexico. But I've to
dig through some more researched matter for this.
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| Mohini |
A sadly and badly damaged figurine of Mohini, the only female avatar of
Vishnu, with curly hair cascading down her shoulders stands in one of the
panels. In one hand, she is holding the pot of the 'Amruta' or the nectar
with the power to immortalize. This is the nectar she gets back from the
asuras (demons) and returns to the devas (gods). The other hand on
her head depicts how she tricked the demon Basmasura into burning
himself. The story is available here.
Vamana Avatar
Another avatar of Lord Vishnu, the Vamana avatar is carved into another
panel. He appears as a dwarf before King Mahabali and requests as much land
as he can measure with his 3 steps. Mahbali, seeing the short stature of
Vamana, is amused and readily agrees. Vamana then takes the form of
Trivikrama and goes on to measure all of the earth with his one step and all
of heaven with his second step.
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| Trivikrama |
When he asks Mahabali as to where he can have the third step, Mahabali
understands he has been bettered and offers his head for Trivikrama to place
his third step.
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| Shiva and Parvathi |
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| Yoga Narasimha |
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| Hiranyakashipu Samhara Photo Credit - Ramani Shankar |
Apart from this Yoga Narasimha, Hiranyakasipu Samhara, Lord Shiva and
Parvathi are also seen occupying prominent places on the temple
walls.
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| A couple |
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| A musician and a couple |
Tucked in between, in tiny spaces, were also carvings of couples in loving
embraces. The temples are not large, but even for a temple of this size, it
is worthwhile to spend a couple of hours here to truly absorb the essence of
this place.
I am dreaming of visiting this temple again, maybe in the evening time just
before sunset. Then I would like to wait around long enough for the stars to
conquer the sky and watch them shimmer there as the temple stones release
the trapped warmth in exchange for soothing night temperatures. If any of
you manage to do it... do share it with me.
I'll join you soon with another story to share. Till then stay safe and
happy travels.
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