Bhubaneswar – ALL I NEED IS MY PASSPORT

Kolkata and Bhubaneswar

Feb 122015

Shiva saying Goodbye

Our morning began with disembarkation from the R.V. Bengal in Kolkata (Calcutta). We were given a very brief tour of Kolkata along with two stops, normally this would be highly disappointing to me, but one drive through the city and you know it is not somewhere you want to spend too long. That is not to deride Kolkata, the frenzy of New Delhi is enough, quadruple that and you have Kolkata, a city to be taken in small bites.

Coming into town we passed the RCTC or Royal Calcutta Turf Club and the RCGC, the Royal Calcutta Golf Club. The RCTC was founded in 1847 in Calcutta, British India and became the premier horse racing organization in India during the British Raj. It is still an exclusive private club and still operates the Kolkata Race Course.

Then our first stop, the magnificent Victoria Memorial Museum. We did not have time to go in, but the building itself takes your breath away. The domed classical structure was dreamed up by Lord Curzon, apparently one of British India’s most flamboyant viceroys. The building was completed in 1921 and is constructed with Makrana marble, the same marble used in the Taj Mahal. The building was financed by “donations” from princes and “ordinary” citizens. When the museum originally opened it was to showcase the Queen, but now it houses a large collection on differing subjects.

This amazing bronze of Queen Victoria was by Sir George Frampton. There are also two incredible bronze panels that depict a vice-regal procession. The work is just stunning.

The museum sits on 64 acres of gardens and was so quiet and peaceful you could forget for a few minutes where you were.

Our second stop was St. John’s Church. Imagine, if the Mayflower landing is also where the Liberty Bell was and where they signed the constitution. All the British important happenings, and monuments are here.

Jesus was portrayed as Greek priest, Father Parthenio. Judas was portrayed as the auctioneer William Tulloh. John is represented by W.C.Blacquiere the police magistrate of Calcutta during the 1780s. The effeminate police officer was a master in adopting female disguises.

St. Johns was the first Anglican parish church in Kolkata and was established in 1787. It houses the Last Supper by Johann Zoffany who gave the 12 disciples the face of British personalities famous in the city at the time.

The Mausoleum of Job Charnock is here, he was believed to have laid the foundations of the English settlement in Calcutta.

*Here also stands the memorial to the “Black Hole Tragedy”. When the the Nawab of Bengal captured the British Fort William (which contained the Black Hole Prison) in 1756, he imprisoned an unknown number of Brits in a small airless cell, (One of the prisoners, John Zephaniah Holwell, claimed that 123 prisoners died out of 146 held. However, the precise number of deaths, and the accuracy of Holwell’s claims, have been the subject of controversy). The story continues, that they were simply forgotten, and when they were found the next morning only 23 were alive. Hence the saying “The black hole of Calcutta.”

I can’t leave Kolkata without discussing the cabs. This is the Calcutta Taxi, in production from 1958 to 2014 with few improvements or changes. It is based on the Morris Oxford series III model, first made by Morris Motors Limited at Cowley, Oxford in England from 1956 to 1959.

An Ambassador car in Kalna

The Ambassador was the first car to be made in India and was once a status symbol, but began losing its dominance in the mid-1980s when Suzuki introduced a lower priced car. Despite its British origins, the Ambassador is considered the definitive Indian car and is referred to as “The king of Indian roads”. The automobile was manufactured by Hindustan Motors near Kolkata. As of May 2014, the Hindustan Motors suspended the production of the Ambassador.

Next stop the airport for our flight to Bhubaneswar. Bhubaneswar is the capital of Orissa. We were all impressed from our fist sight of this town as to how clean and calm it is. The town is considered a Tier-2 city and is one of modern India’s first planned cities. It would be complicated to go into India’s urban planning at this point, but suffice it to say, we all are very comfortable in this town.

We made only one temple stop today at the Temple of Chausath Yogini in Hirapur village. This circular temple was built during the 10th century to harness the supernatural powers of the Yogini. It is filled with 64 (chausath) exquisitely carved, black granite panels that are about 2 feet tall and represent the 64 manifestations of the goddess Shakti, who symbolizes female creative energy.

A Shiva offering outside of the temple

Namaste

Bhubaneswar – The Temple City of India

Bhubaneswar, India

Feb 112015

February 2015

There are over 400 temples, only a fraction of what is thought to have once been 7000 temples, in Bhubaneswar and today we went exploring.

The Queen’s Cave

Our first stop was a pre-temple structure. The Udaigiri and Khandagiri caves were honeycombed with little retreats for Jain monks in the 1st century BC. The highway cuts through the two “hills” and we explored Udaigiri.

These are small rooms for the monks, when it was time for them to depart the world they would have their acolytes seal them in and they would then leave their bodies and this world.

The concept of, what in the west, would be termed suicide, is not, in any way, what the Jain’s practice. Theirs is one of the more scripted and strict religions regarding harming any life form; they simply believe that it is not important that their bodies are part of this worldly space. If you are interested in reading one of the most poignant articles on Jain spirituality I suggest you read William Dalrymple’s Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India.

The caves are covered in these exquisite carvings

Next stop the Tribal Museum

The state of Orrisa has 62 culturally vibrant tribes and 13 Primitive Tribal Groups. These people constitute 22% of the states population (as of the 2001 census). Orissa is very aware of the fact that these tribal traditions are vital to their history and has several government agencies watching, documenting, educating and bringing nutrition to these remote areas and peoples. These groups fall under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Research and Training Institute (SCSTRTI)

The museum is the focal point of this work, while it does not allow photos inside, it is a truly well laid out museum with a wonderful collection of tribal art.

Now the temples… over centuries, under the patronage of different dynasties these temples have evolved and grown taller. There is no real understanding of the exact reason for the various types of architecture or ornamentation, but they are each unique in their own way. Most of the temples have two main components, a convex curvilinear spire (deul) which holds the inner sanctum, which is where the deity is kept, and then the assembly hall (jagamohan), which acts as an entryway.

Parsurameswar Temple

Parsurameswar Temple (7th century AD), dedicated to Lord Shiva is the best-preserved specimen of early Hindu temples of this period. The experimentation in design can be seen in its ornate carvings. The jaghamon structure is one of the only surviving, substantially intact, jagamohans of this earlier period.

The roof of the Parsurameswwar jagamohan. It is possible that this is patterned after what would have originally been a wood structure, but it is not really known.

One of thousands of carvings at Parsurameswar

Mukteswar Temple is considered one of the jewels of Orissan temple architecture. The sculptures and ornamentation are just sumptuous.

Mukteshwar Temple Complex

Ganesha at the Mukteshwar Temple. The red is from rubbings during offerings.

Snakes are a big part of worship and play a prominent role in the temples here in Orissa. According to Varaha Purana, Lord Brahma’s son Kashyapa had four wives. Kashyapa’s first wife gave birth to Devas, second to Garudas, third to Nagas (snakes) and fourth to Daityas (demons). Enough said.. the Hindu religion is filled with gods and would take a dissertation to explain.

The alter in one of the Mukteswar Temples

The beautifully sculpted torana of Mukteshwar

The beautifully sculpted torana (gateway) of Mukteshwar

The Rajarani sits out in a lovely middle class neighborhood. This temple, renowned for its magnificent sculptures, is such a peaceful place.

Rajarani Temple

The goddesses on the top of the Rajarani Temple

This copulating couple sits at the point where one of the many sided walls comes together. It is not really known why but it is interesting to speculate that the joining of the couple and the joining of the walls are symbolic.

One of many snakes on the Rajarani Temple

Our last stop was the Lingaraj Temple. The temple is off limits to non-Hindus, however they have erected a tower outside the walls to peer in. This temple complex represents the high point of the Orissan style where both sculpture and architecture have found harmony.

Only one small section of the Lingaraj Temple

It is enshrined within a compound wall of laterite measuring 520 feet by 465 feet. The wall is 7.5 feet thick and surmounted by a plain slant coping. Alongside the inner face of the boundary wall, there is a terrace to protect the compound wall against “outside aggression”. The tower is 180 feet high and the complex has 150 smaller shrines in its courtyard. Each inch of the 180 foot tall tower is sculpted. The tower is not scaffolded, that is a ladder for the monks to light a fire on the top during a recent festival.

Laterites are soil types rich in iron and aluminium, formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are rusty-red because of iron oxides. They develop by intensive and long-lasting weathering of the underlying parent rock.

The temple is built in the Deula style that has four components namely, vimana (structure containing the sanctum), jagamohana (assembly hall), natamandira (festival hall) and bhoga-mandapa (hall of offerings). It has a dance hall that was associated with the raising prominence of the devadasi system of the past. A Devadasi is a girl dedicated to worship and service of a deity or a temple for the rest of her life. These woman were temple dancers, and revered within their society.

The kitchen at Langarj is the largest in the world and serves over 100,000 people per day.

Bindusagar Tank

Walking to the Lingaraj Temple one passes the Bindusagar Tank. This man-made lake has a pavilion in the middle and is believed to contain water from every sacred river in India. The main deity of the Lingaraj Temple is brought to this pavilion and lake each year for a ritual bath during Ashokashtami (in March and April). Keep in mind that during the monsoons this tank fills with fresh rain water and is far cleaner.

These funny little figures are seen everywhere.

Jagannath (or Jagannatha) meaning “Lord of the Universe”, or Vishnu, is the Black one. Balabhadra or Balarama is the older brother of Vishnu and is the white one. Sudarshana, the yellow one, is his only sister.

A woman fishing in the Bindusagar Tank

A little more about Bhubaneswar: Bhubaneswar replaced Cuttack as the capital in 1948, the year after India gained its independence from Britain. The modern city was designed by the German architect Otto Königsberger in 1946. Along with Jamshedpur and Chandigarh, it was one of modern India’s first planned cities. Bhubaneswar has decided to make tourism its major source of income and attracted about 1.5 million tourists in 2011. Their new governor has been responsible for placing tribal paintings on most walls you see in the city, making it a very art forward city.

Bhubaneswar, Puri and Konarak

Bhubaneswar, India, Konarak, Puri

Feb 102015

February 2015

Our last day in Bhubaneswar, was very long, and yet amazing, sadly, tomorrow we fly to Delhi and home.

It began with a short stop at a Rock Edict of Ashoka (Asoka). Ashoka was first introduced to us at Sarnath.

Discovered in 1837, this set of Rock Edicts contains eleven out of the well-known fourteen Rock Edicts of Ashoka. (BC 273-236). The omission of the thirteenth edict is deliberate as it describes Ashoka’s conquest of Kalinga through a horribly bloody war. Kalinga was the turning point of Ashoka’s career and what converted him to Buddhism. In place of the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth rock edicts, two special edicts know as Separate Rock Edicts or Kalinga Edicts have been incorporated here, which are conciliatory in nature and meant to pacify the newly conquered people of Kalinga.

On the rock above the inscription is the sculpted forepart of an elephant carved out of rock which symbolizees Buddha, the "best of elephants". This is believed to be the first sculpture of India.

On the rock above the inscription is the sculpted forepart of an elephant carved out of rock which symbolizes Buddha, the “best of elephants”. This is believed to be the first sculpture of India.

Some of the Edicts that do a good job of summing up Ashoka’s rule are: Prohibition of killing of animals. Making arrangements for both human and animal beings to receive medicinal treatments. The order that officials must set out on tour every five years to propagate moral codes. They ordered Ashoka’s officers to report to him on matters of administration related to the affairs of his people at all times and at all places. They proclaimed that morality is the only act of fame and glory.

I spoke with an Indian gentleman from Kerala, and he was just in awe of Ashoka and his humanity, all our countries need the return of a man as great as Ashoka.

Our first temple stop was Konark, the site of the 13th century Sun Temple. The name Konark comes from the Sanskrit words Kona (angle) and Arka (sun).

When you enter the grounds the first thing you encounter is the Nirtya mandapa (dancing hall) a big pillared hall built on a very high plinth, in front of the Jagamohana (gathering hall) which was intended for offering arati-nrityas (dances) by the devadashis (dancing girls) during the worship. We saw this type of dancing hall at the Lingaraj Temple, it is where traditional dance began in India and was a revered art form.

The roof has disappeared but the pillars and walls are elaborately carved with dancing figures in various poses, playing instruments and carrying incense burners and lamps.

The temple has only one named person in the entire place, and that is not of the king that built the place, but of the dance instructor.

The temple, built in the middle of 13th century, is a massive co-ordination of engineering and artistry. It is said that King Narasimhadeva I had this temple built, with the help of 1,200 artisans within a period of 12 years (1243-1255 A.D.). The temple was considered as a chariot for the Sun God and is designed in the form of a gorgeously decorated chariot mounted on 24 wheels, each about 10 feet in diameter, and drawn by seven horses. The poet Rabindranath Tagore wrote of Konark: “here the language of stone surpasses the language of man.”

The wheels represent the months of the year and also work as sundials. They do this by dividing the day into three-hour sections.

The large structure of Konark Temple seen today is actually the entrance of the main temple. The main temple which enshrined the presiding deity has collapsed, no one is quite sure how, but even in its ruined state it is magnificent.

Entry to the Dance Hall

The evening Sun God

The noon time Sun God

There are three images of the Sun God at three different sides of the temple, positioned in proper direction to catch the rays of the sun at morning, noon and evening.

After a drive along the Bay of Bengal we stopped at the town of Puri. Puri is one of Indias most important pilgrimage towns and the center of this is the Jagannath Temple. The temple was built in the 12th century by King Anantavarman. it is surrounded by a 20 foot high wall, but this time we could not climb up to peer in as the tower was under repair.

The Jagannath Temple of Puri

We had the chance to visit the town of Pipli. This small town is filled with artisans, some good and some not so good.

Rice harvest along the way

Street scenes of Puri, around the temple.