- A Peek Into the Domestic Tales
Thank you for joining me from
Part IOur temples have this unique identity of not only depicting gods and goddesses but also of telling us stories from daily life. They are the time capsules of their century and they do a very good job of helping us peek back into their times. While centuries have gone by, looking at these carvings, it sometimes feels as if nothing much has changed.
Couples, families and human interactions make up for a significant amount of miniature carvings. In this part of the Belur series, I've kept my focus on the domestic scene. Some I understood, while some I'll leave it to your understanding.
No amount of time is sufficient to soak in all the history that is etched in every visible surface of this beautiful temple. But we had a couple of other places to cover, so with much reluctance, I forced myself to speed up my pace. But even in that time, the number of details that sprung out at me from every nook and corner was simply overwhelming.
Come, see for yourself....
 |
A couple in Belur temple
|
 |
| Another couple in Belur temple |
 |
| A warrior with his partner |
A couple in a passionate embrace, another couple in an embrace and I am
guessing a warrior with his proud partner in his arms were the
straightforward ones.
 |
A curious scene
|
This one was a bit confusing. One man is standing with folded hands in front of another man and there is someone at the feet of the other man, hanging on tight to his legs as if at his mercy. Was this a father requesting the other man to marry his daughter? Or was it a child at his feet? Whatever it was, it was pretty curious for sure.
Just to emphasize, all these little ones are also pretty loud in telling their stories, They have survived years of wear and tear along with the more grand ones. The details are a bit worn out, but there is always enough to pique the curiosity. Most of these carvings from the daily show the people to be wearing large beaded jewellery instead of the more intricate finery.
 |
| The wrestlers |
This one is very obvious as two men grapple with each other in a wrestling
pose.
 |
| Man, woman and child |
But then look at this, a man, woman and a child. The man and woman stand facing each other with their hands tied together at the wrist, while a child sits at their feet. The deeper meaning behind this evaded me, but I was
pretty intrigued by what was going on here.
 |
| Two women and a child |
And here are two women, one a mother carrying a child on her hips and the
other, her companion, possibly taking a stroll.
 |
| The boy and the donkey faced girl |
 |
| The same carving in Halebidu |
The above images are not new to many and are seen in both the Belur and the Halebidu temples. A young man with a donkey faced woman. It is
meant to indicate that for a young boy stepping into adulthood, or maybe
his teens, even a donkey faced woman can be attractive. I've heard
about the phrase 'not mincing words', but here is the prime example of not mincing
carvings.
 |
| The Halebidu couple |
 |
| The women hard at work |
Here are a couple of more 'couple' and domestic images from the Halebidu temple too. The second image shows two ladies hard at work with a mortar and
pestles.
 |
| A whole lot of drama |
Saving the most intriguing scene for the last, it is pretty clear, but I am a bit lost on where it could be derived from. It shows one person stopping another with a sword from beheading a third person. This one was really hidden in one of the corners, but I could not take my eyes off it. Even that tiny piece of carving drips epitomes of emotion and drama.
We will move on to slightly bigger carvings in our next part, till then
thanks for staying with me.
Location map:
No comments:
Post a Comment