Thank you for joining me from
part I
Have you ever heard of a temple that is dedicated to a woman painter? Well, Chitrakarini temple must be the only temple in the world acknowledging the skills and creative expressions of an artist.
Have you ever heard of a temple that is dedicated to a woman painter? Well, Chitrakarini temple must be the only temple in the world acknowledging the skills and creative expressions of an artist.
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| Chitrakarini Temple |
No other temple in Bhubaneshwar has such fine carvings in such a small
space as this temple in the Old Town area. Right from the towers to the
basal platform, it is carved with dancers, animal forms, amorous couples,
floral patterns, deities, and various other designs.
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| Close up carvings, many images are damaged |
Also, the temple has fine carvings about the responsibilities of a mother
and how she contributes to the development of a child. This is nothing but
detailing the contributions of a life-giver – a woman who performs the
utmost in the life cycle of human beings.
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| The Floral carved panels |
If we take a closer look at both the miniature shrines and the main
temple, we can see the skillfully crafted stone sculptures and stone
murals. Further, the wall panels of the temple have sculpted images of
various gods and goddesses in the right places. Further, day-to-day life
activities have been carved using animal and human forms. However, in
some places, both forms are intertwined to give a correct meaning to the
representation.
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| Carvings on the outer wall of temple |
Unfortunately, in many places, wall panels are partially or fully damaged,
maybe due to weathering or some other reasons. Since the temple is
dedicated to creative expressions, one can see all the “rasas” on the
panels be it shringar Ras, hasya Ras or the Karun Ras. Some of the heads
of the couples are missing.
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| Couples in various poses |
Apart from this, one can frequently see Lord Narasimha’s form which is a
fusion of both the animal and the human forms. Other images of deities
like Ganesh, Sheshnag, Garuda, etc abound in this temple with some of them
damaged. Added to this, human interactions with animals have been depicted
beautifully all over the outer walls but many of them are damaged,
therefore, one has to peer closely to recognize whether it is a pig, lion,
or goat.
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| Carvings on the outer wall |
Unlike other temples, the Chitrakarini temple has other unusual carvings
where we can see elephants, lions, or even monkeys engaged in their
day-to-day life. So, on some panels, we can see a group of jumbos or lions
interacting with one another or birds feeding or other such animalistic
behavior.
Coming to the main temple, it has mounted murals in different patterns –
floral, geometric, maybe inspired by living beings, feminine forms, or
nature. These murals have been designed on stone slabs and placed on the
wall panels.
Even as we leave the exquisitely carved temple after spending more than an
hour, I hope and pray that this temple receives more protection from the
authorities as otherwise, with time, this unique heritage too will fade
away.
Location map:
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